Magma
by Batmarcus
Summary: He's spent his life as one of fire, made to believe he was superior to others. that is, until a girl who saw nothing and everything came along and changed it all. Revamp! Co-authored with MaxGentlman 1. Eventual: Toph/OC, Aang/Katara, Sokka/Suki. Other pairings to be determined
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to the first chapter of the Magma revamp! I'm excited for it and I hope fans of the previous version like it. I also would like to welcome my new co-author and beta fr this story MaxGentlman 1.**

 **Disclaimer: We do not own Avatar Nickelodeon does, we are just happy it exists.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Kai was breathing heavily as he flicked his dark black hair out of his line of sight. His eyes gleamed with excitement as he glanced across the room at his elder sister, Azula. They were sparring and, like most times, he was losing. Sweat stuck his forehead in small drops and he struggled for breath, his stamina reaching its end.

"Kai, come on. I haven't even gone moderate on you!" Azula jeered, several strands of her inky hair falling out of their usual neat bun and into her face. She seemed virtually unscathed from the fight, her eyes shining with the evident possibility of victory.

Kai took a deep breath and sent a crescent shaped fire kick at her head. Predictably, she ducked it easily, looking up just as a fireball neared her visage.

Without blinking, she wove a net of fire, blocking his attack, and pushed it towards him, her arms swinging forward as though she were pushing at a wall.

Thinking fast, he raised his hands in the air, a dome of fire forming from the apex of his fingers. he drew in a sharp gust of air and shoved it at her, enveloping the net in its wake.

She cocked an eyebrow and caught it in her hands, sending it to the opposite corner of the room, where a potted plant lay. It caught fire instantaneously, the smell of burning leaves spreading throughout the room like a wildfire. Soon thereafter, it began smoking intensely, creating a smog around the already heated room.

"I never liked that thing anyways," she commented, smirking as she formed a staff of fire and twirled it about, pacing slowly around her brother like a lioness on the hunt.

"I'm not fond of them either," he said watching her twirling the staff and staying on his guard. His eyes darted about, looking for an opportunity to catch his ever-aware sister vulnerable.

Scowling at him for not making the first move, she narrowed her eyes in a calculating manner, and jumped up, batting a ball of fire towards him with the staff, her eyes glittering as they always did when she had an ulterior plan.

As it grew nearer, he stepped aside, narrowly avoiding the fireball and jumped into the air, sending alternating spheres from each hand in her direction.

She blocked them with her staff, twirling it in front of her to create a shield, before landing on her toes and smirking.

"Gotcha," she said proudly, indicating to his feet, where a giant X had been burnt into the floor. With a silent grace, she flipped around her back and tapped her staff against the floor, the X igniting a wall of fire at her command.

He guarded his feet and held up his hands in surrender as her staff stopped in front of his nose. Azula was smiling playfully, but her face was set in an eerie lust for blood, for power.

"You win, Azula," he grumbled, disgruntled at the prospect, his molten gold coloured eyes looking at her in shame. Nodding briskly, she stepped away and tapped her staff on the ground once again, the X under his feet stemming its fire.

"You think?" she snapped, grinning as she extinguished the staff with a clap of her hands, looking around her. "Well, this room is ruined," she commented, her voice dripping in nonchalance as the corners of her lips turned down into a sneer of distaste.

"Every time we spar, we seem to ruin a room," he remarked uncaringly, following Azula out the door, leaving the destroyed room behind.

"That's because the decorator was blind. If I have to see one more beige-coloured room, I will puke," she vowed, her nose crinkled in disgust as they walked beside the small pool of water that was located inside the Courtyard. the dead, yellow grass crunched under their feet.

"My sister, the mighty Princess of the Fire Nation, made sick by the colour beige. Don't let the Earth Kingdom find out," Kai smiled playfully, pretending to cower in fear at the mention of the rival Kingdom. Azula spat at the ground and shot him a look in response, her golden-brown eyes darkening.

"Those hard-headed fools wouldn't know beige from taupe if I burned it upon their skins. What a bunch of freaks," she sneered, kicking a stray rock with unwonted force and sending it into the walls that lined the Courtyard.

"I don't know. Never met any one outside the Fire Nation and Dad won't let me in meetings," Kai replied glumly, pushing his hair out of his eyes with a spare hand. Stubbornly, it fell right back into his eyes and he glared at it as though it had done him a great personal wrong.

"That's because we talk about you. All the time," Azula teased, sitting on the grass and looking into the sun. Her head was stretched back and her face a mask, but it seemed to be the greatest calm she had ever achieved. "But they are a bunch of trolls."

"You seem to have a very low opinion of most people," he observed, and she opened an eye to look at him in disbelief. "You don't really talk about me do you?" he asked nervously, sitting next to her with his legs crossed.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," she commented drily. "But you'll find, baby brother, that my opinion of most people is correct. There must be inferiority for superiority, but those in control must always...prune the bush, shall we say?"

"You mean Zuko right?" he asked, glaring at the memory of his older brother then glancing over at Azula, who shrugged and laid down, her arms crossed beneath her head.

"He was not worthy. It is not our concern. But, when I rule, it shall be utopia. Utter perfection, nothing less," she vowed, smiling blissfully as she imagined her future reign.

"Yes, I know, Azula. It's how father raised us: to be perfect," he stated bluntly, leaning against the tree that provided much welcomed shade and comfort from the intense heat of the sun, although Azula seemed unaffected. She stiffened at the mention of their father, and her lips pursed angrily.

"He is not the only one with vision," she retorted sharply, her voice bitter.

"Not true. You seem to have a vision of what things should be like," Kai told her, glancing at his elder sister apprehensively. Azula smiled and opened her eyes, leaning up on her elbows to look her younger brother in the eyes. He was the only member of her family who she truly cared for, and he understood her better than anyone she knew. She would only let her guard down around him, as others would strive to manipulate her weaknesses to their own goals. Zuko had been too emotional, to much of a contradiction: wearing his heart on his sleeve while bottling up his emotions until they burst out of him in anger. Kai, on the other hand, seemed to be a perfect mixture of them both: not skilled enough to be a threat, but capable of great potential nevertheless.

"Vision without implementation is meaningless. That's where you fail in your training," Azula divulged, a cocky grin plastered to her face as she looked at her hands, playing with a small flame of fire between her fingers.

"What do you mean?" he asked, raising a black eyebrow. Azula rolled her eyes and closed her hand, extinguishing the flame she had been playing with.

"You need to think like me. Imagine what I'll do next, and use my attack to hurt me. Use your opponent's strength against you," she instructed, her voice changing slightly in volume as she looked ahead, pretending she had not just revealed her innermost strategy to someone who could be a threat.

"It's impossible to think like you and it's not for lack of trying," Kai sighed in dejection, a feigned look of disappointment crossing his face.

"What can I say? I'm awesome like that," she grinned, winking conspiratorially at him.

"You must be," he chuckled at the expression on her face, stopping abruptly as a guard approached them.

"Princess Azula?" the guard intoned politely, his head slightly bowed at addressing a member of the Royal Family.

"That's my name. Don't you forget it," she snapped back, her posture lazy as she looked at the guard, squinting her eyes to see him against the sun.

"Of course, Princess. Your father would like to see you," he mumbled, bowing out of sheer fear as Azula's eyes narrowed dangerously. She chuckled lightly and rolled her eyes at the guard, glancing at Kai.

"I'm sure he would. May Kai join us, or is he merely continuing his dissertation about my brother?" she smirked, getting to her feet and brushing the stray dirt from her robes.

"Kai is free to come if he wants," the guard said, bowing slightly to Kai, who seemed slightly perturbed by the sudden attention. Azula waved the guard off and glanced at Kai, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, come on then," she urged, clasping her hands behind her back and hiding her emotions behind her mask again.

Together, they walked into the grand throne room, their footsteps ringing through the room as they passed pillar after pillar, finally reaching the throne of their father. They knelt before their father, their eyes held on the ground out of respect: a habit they had been taught since birth.

"Azula," their Father said, looking upon the bowed head of his only daughter.

"Yes, father?" she asked, her voice cold, but trembling slightly, a fact that only Kai picked up, causing him to scrunch his eyebrows in confusion.

"I have an assignment for you," he told her simply, no sentiment evident in his voice. Kai's stomach sank into his feet at the announcement. Great, he thought sarcastically. Azula was the only thing that saved him from death by boredom nowadays and now she was going to leave again.

"Very well. May I at least bring Kai along, lest I die of boredom in searching for an elusive plant?" she snapped, not caring about the respect she had been ingrained to follow. She hated her father's assignments, a fact she knew he was aware of. Her father's eyes narrowed, but he nodded.

"You may. Although the assignment I have in mind is a bit more..challenging," he warned her, causing her to emit a sound that sounded like suppressed laughter.

"For me?" she snorted. "I'll be back before the next Harvest moon," she said, fully assured in her own abilities.

"I don't think so, Azula. Your assignment is to hunt down your brother, Zuko, and Uncle Iroh before they bring more shame on our family," the King announced, and Azula's eyes flashed gold as she smiled, sparks of excitement nearly firing from her hands.

"Is that it?" she snarked, laughing brightly. "When can we leave?" she demanded eagerly. Kai's heart jumped in his chest at the opportunity, before groaning, knowing Azula would demand he pay her back in some manner.

"Are you sure? Do you truly believe Kai is ready for this?" he asked her, glancing at his son's head. Kai gulped angrily, but kept his eyes trained on the ground, refusing to react to his own father's insult.

"What he lacks in skill, he makes up for in determination. Besides, he knows how Zuko thinks. I do not," Azula argued simply, her voice not faltering at their father's demanding tone.

"If you're certain, Azula," their father said, his voice calculating and sharp. Azula stood up and looked at him, her eyes unblinking and her stance inspiring.

"When have you ever known me not to be?" she demanded, her eyes cold and emotionless. Kai remained bowing, his heart beating wildly at the disrespectful gestures of his sister.

"Then you both may leave as soon as possible. Dismissed," the King waved them away, and Azula inclined her head slightly, turning on her heel and storming out of the room, knowing Kai would follow her.

As they exited the room, she turned around and looked at Kai expectantly, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"Thank you," he muttered, his voice apprehensive and excited at the same time. Azula had no reaction, merely looking to the sky to determine the time of day, the gears in her head already turning.

"If you screw this up, Kai, I will kill you myself," she vowed, glaring at him sharply, her eyes promising a slow and torturous death.

"I know you will," he replied, unfazed by her threat as he glanced at his sister's imposing figure. She smiled thinly and nodded, seeming to have come to a decision.

"Good. Now that that's settled, let's go pack. We leave at dusk," she announced, her eyes looking over the walls behind him. Somewhere, out there, lay the key to her success. Zuko was the only thing standing between her and utopia.

"Yes, Azula," he mock-bowed and made his way to his room, her eyes never leaving his back. For once, Azula wondered if she was making the right choice, putting her little brother in such danger. But, then again, she thought to herself, a bitter smile crossing her face, why not kill two birds with one stone? However, somewhere in the back of her mind in spite of what she had said to him, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to kill Kai.

Pushing that out of her mind for now, she left to start packing herself.

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 **A/N: Yes I realize it's just nearly exactly the same as the first chapter, but we didn't see much that needed changing in this chapter really, Next chapter is where things differ greatly from the old version. We hope you liked this chapter, please leave a review and we'll see you next time!**


	2. Children of Fire

**A/N: Two chapters in one day! Nice progress, anyway welcome ladies and gentlemen to the second chapter! Specail thanks to my co-author and beta MaxGentlman 1.**

 **Disclaimer: Nickelodeon owns Avatar, we just wish we did.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Kai was bored, he could hardly be blamed though. Sure he was outside of the Fire Nation for the first time in his life, but he had also been stuck on a ship the whole time which, even with Azula there with him, got old fast. So after about a week, he wanted to do something.

"Azula, how do you deal with trips like this?" He asked, laying on the deck.

"You learn ways to occupy your time; come here for a moment." She said offhandedly. He stood and approached where she was pouring over a map.

"Now, what we know is Zuko and Iroh left the Northern Water Tribe, the first place they would stop would have to be on Earth Kingdom land, but there are a few places they could end up from that direction." Azula said.

"Yeah, but let's consider what else we know. First off, there is no way they left without injuries, and they may be near exhaustion. Plus, they can't have had too much properly prepared food to eat with that kind of journey. That means they would likely have to stop at one of the closer docks." He said, indicating the closer ones.

"Also, they would have been low on water as well, meaning that they were not at full health. They might need help recovering, and given how much uncle does like to relax from time to time, that means they would probably end up about here." Azula said, indicating a dock.

"Right next to a spa, where they could rest and recover before moving on." Kai said.

"We should be able to make it there by tomorrow. Kai, go have the Captain set course for this dock and then come back for a spar, we need to be prepared for tomorrow." She said, handing him the map.

He nodded and set off as she watched him go, 'I knew he would be useful.' She thought, smiling a little as she watched her little brother go.

Kai notified the captain, who immediately set a course for the dock. As he made his way back to Azula, he began to think. In spite of what his mission with Azula was, a part of him didn't want to see Zuko or Iroh dead. Sure he had always been closer to Azula than Zuko, but it was still his brother.

'Maybe there is someway I can get father to reconsider later?' He thought to himself. Even though he knew it was unlikely, it was still worth trying.

He was so lost in his own thoughts, he almost walked headlong into Azula, but stopped before he did.

"Kai, is everything alright?" Azula asked with genuine concern.

"Yes, sorry sister, just thinking." He said somewhat honestly.

The ship arrived on schedule, landing at the dock early in the morning. Azula and Kai made their way up the dock to the spa and after intimidating a couple of employees, found Iroh and Zuko's quarters. Unfortunately, they weren't there. Deciding to wait, Azula took a seat at a nearby table and Kai leaned against the back wall. About ten minutes later, Zuko and Iroh walked into the room.

"Look at all these magnificent sea shells I've found," Iroh said proudly, "I'll enjoy these for years to come." He said, putting a conch shell to his ear.

"We don't need anymore dumb souvenirs, Uncle, don't forget we have to carry things ourselves now." Zuko said in annoyance.

"Hello brother. Uncle." Azula said.

"What are you two doing here?" Zuko asked, glaring back and forth at each of them while Iroh simply looked calmly from one to the other.

"You know in our country, we exchange a pleasant hello before we ask questions. Really, have you become so uncivilized so soon Zuzu?" Azula asked, standing up and holding a shell as she and Kai stood across from Zuko and Iroh.

"Don't call me that!" Zuko shouted angrily.

"To what do we owe this honor?" Iroh asked.

"Hm, must be a family trait, each of you so quick to get to the point." She said, emphasizing the last word by crushing the shell in her hand.

Kai, seeing Azula's temper starting to build a little, decided it was time he took over the conversation a little, "We've come with a message from home; father has changed his mind, family has suddenly become very important to him. He's heard rumors of plans to overthrow him; Treacherous plots. He feels that family are the only one's you can really trust." Kai said and Zuko seemed stunned, but calmer, as did Azula.

"Father regrets your banishment; he wants you home." Azula said.

"We all do." Kai added. He knew that only some of this was the truth, but a part of him really did want them home, even though he knew his father wouldn't want him to.

Zuko, and Iroh stood in a stunned sort of silence, with Zuko simply staring at the ground before he turned to face the window and stare out at the view. Kai could see he was on the fence about it, wanting to believe, but not truly sure, but he also knew Azula was growing impatient.

"Didn't you hear us? You should be happy, excited, grateful even. We've just given you great news." Azula said, sounding just a little irritated by his lack of reaction.

"I'm sure your brother just needs a moment to," Iroh started, but Kai, sighting his sister's mood, cut him off, "Uncle, please don't interrupt." He said in a voice that was much more calm than he was sure Azula's would have been.

"I still haven't heard a thank you. We aren't messengers; we didn't have to come all this way." Azua said, expectantly looking at Zuko.

Zuko just stood silent as he looked out the window. Walking up behind him, Kai put his hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"I know it's a lot to think about. If you make up your mind, Azula and I will be waiting on the ship. It was nice seeing you again." Kai said, walking out the door along with Azula. After they were out of earshot, Azula spoke.

"Nicely done, Kai, especially that bit about seeing them again; you actually had me believing you." She said, patting his shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks." Kai said halfheartedly. What Azula didn't know was he meant what he said. While he did always prefer Azula's company, Zuko was still a good friend of his when growing up along with Uncle.

"Anyway, we'll return to the ship and wait for them." Azula said.

"What if they don't come?" Kai asked, even though he could probably guess the answer.

"What else, we'll torch the forest looking for them." She said as if it were obvious.

"Of course." Kai said, nodding. He had a feeling that it wasn't going to come to that, for better or worse. He and Azula knew how to manipulate people, and they had hit all the right points; it was unlikely Zuko would not come to them, the problem was Kai was not sure if that was the best thing.

* * *

Later that night, Zuko was walking about carefully but excitedly. After all, this time, he was about to head home.

"We're going home after three long years Uncle, it's unbelievable!" He said happily.

"Yes, it is unbelievable. I have never known my brother to regret anything; he stands by his own decisions." Iroh said.

"Didn't you listen to Kai and Azula? Father's realized how important family is to him; he cares about me." Zuko said stubbornly.

"I care about you, and I know my brother well enough to know that if Ozai wants you back, it might not be for the reasons you imagine." Iroh said carefully.

Zuko paused to think for a moment, "If it were just Azula coming and saying all this, then I might see your point; she can be deceptive. But with Kai here too, it seems genuine. Kai would never manipulate or deceive, he's never been like that..." Zuko started before Iroh cut him off.

"That is true, but you must remember he has always been closer to Azula than anyone, and he has been around her alone for three years, Zuko. People can change." Iroh said calmly.

"No, you're wrong, you don't know them or how father feels about me. You don't know anything!" He said, wanting so bad to believe he could go home.

"Zuko, I only meant that in our family things are not always what they seem, no matter how much we want them to be."

"Really, because I think you are exactly what you seem: a lazy, mistrustful, shallow, old man who's always been jealous of his brother!" He snapped, saying it all very fast before stomping outside to breath and leaving Iroh alone with a sad look as he watched the door close.

* * *

The next morning as the sun rose over the horizon, Zuko made his way down the hillside steps to the docks. He stopped for a moment and spotted his siblings' boat in the distance. He took a deep breath and sighed before continuing.

"Wait for me." Came Iroh's voice behind him. Turning around, Zuko saw his uncle dressed and a bag packed on his shoulder.

"Uncle, you're coming with me?" Zuko said, glad to see that he was coming.

"You can't leave without me. Besides, family sticks together, right?" He said with a smile, putting his hand on Zuko's shoulder. Zuko smiled at this before continuing down the steps.

"We're finally going home." Zuko said. As they made their way to the ship, Iroh glared down at it, as if it had something to hide.

* * *

As they made their way down the dock, there were guards along both sides of the dock leading to the ship, Iroh eyed them with suspicion. When they reached the end, they looked up the gang plank and found Kai and Azula waiting at the top.

"Brother, Uncle, welcome." Kai said in a pleasant tone, bowing to his family members, who bowed in return.

"We're both glad you decided to come." Azula said as the guards on the dock lined up behind Zuko and Iroh.

"Are we ready to leave, your highnesses?" The captain asked.

"Set a course for home, captain." Azula said.

"You heard the princess. Raise the anchors, we're taking the prisoners ho-" The captain cut himself off after he realized what he had said. Azula just glared at the captain for his slip of the tongue. "Your highness, I..." He said, looking back at Zuko and Iroh with worry.

Iroh and Zuko's eyes leered before Iroh spun around and kicked the two guards behind him off the gang plank, followed by a few other guards who tried to attack him. Zuko knocked the captain off the plank and looked at Azula and Kai with contempt.

"You lied to me!" He yelled, pointing an accusing finger at his brother and sister.

Kai opened his mouth to try and explain at least a little, but Azula beat him to it, "Oh come on Zuzu, it's not like I've never done that before." She said as guards stepped around them to attack Zuko.

As Iroh dealt with the guards on the dock, Zuko leaped up and blasted the two guards off of the ship as he landed across from his siblings. Azula turned to face him first as he conjured dagger-like flames from his hands.

Iroh ducked two blasts of fire before knocking two guards off the dock before seizing a third in a choke hold, "Zuko, let's go!" He called out, throwing one man into the ocean.

Zuko was busy though, he was slashing and blasting at Azula like that was all that mattered was hitting her. He was having no success and as Iroh ran to try and stop him, Kai cut off his path.

"Uncle, please, I would rather we not do this." Kai said, prepared to attack and defend none the less.

"You leave me little choice." Iroh said before attacking.

* * *

 **-With Zuko and Azula-**

Zuko kept slashing at her with his fire daggers and no matter what he did, it didn't seem to matter. Azula dodged, having not even lit up a fireball yet in defense. At one of his more wild swings, she grabbed his arm and used his momentum to toss Zuko away.

"You know, father blames Uncle for the loss at the North Pole, and he considers you a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar. Why would he want you back home? After all, he already has two great children, why else bring home the failure if not to lock him away so that he can no longer embarrass the family?" She taunted.

Zuko saw red and leaped at her with two flaming kicks, his attacks wilder and less fluid.

* * *

 **-Kai and Iroh-**

Kai dodged his uncle's shot, sending a crescent shaped kick of fire at the old man who moved with a speed that one wouldn't expect, dodging and sending two blasts at him.

Kai was forced to spin himself in midair and send two rows of fire at Iroh, who slid to the side nearly off the dock, but held his ground as Kai landed.

"I must admit, you have improved greatly since I last saw you." Iroh said calmly.

"I had a lot of practice." Kai said before firing a couple more shots at Iroh. Iroh dodged around the shots and ran at Kai. Kai attempted to hit him but he managed to dodge his shots until he spun around and delivered a hard kick to Kai's gut, sending him off the side of the ship.

* * *

 **-Zuko and Azula-**

Zuko was throwing everything he had at her in his blind fury, but she barely broke a sweat at his attacks. She got bored of this fight and grabbed hold of his wrist and kicked him away from her.

As he got up, he saw Azula charging a lightning strike in her fingers. When the bolt was fully charged, she aimed it at Zuko with a calm expression on her face and fear on his. Before she could fire the shot, Iroh grabbed her tightly by her fingers, guided his index and middle fingers down his shoulder, into his stomach, up his other arm and fired the bolt at a nearby cliff side, causing it to explode. He then threw her off the boat and into the water.

"Come on, Zuko!" He yelled as they ran off the boat and up the dock.

* * *

 **-Later-**

After recovering from the fight, drying themselves off, and firing the previous captain literally setting him ablaze, Azula and Kai went to the spa in search of Zuko and Iroh. After finding they were long gone, Azula went to a high porch on one of the houses, pulled out a wanted poster with Iroh and Zuko's faces on them, and addressed the spa workers.

"If you or anyone are caught associating with these two traitors, you will face the full wrath of the fire nation. Do I make myself clear?" She said in a commanding voice, scaring the crowd of people. After she made her point, she joined Kai as they made their way back to the ship.

"So what do we do now?" Kai asked.

"Have one of the guards prepare a messenger eagle, I think it's time we see some old friends." She said with a dark grin on her face.

* * *

 **A/N: So, that's chapter 2! Hopefully you all have a feel for Kai's dynamic with his family a little better now. We also hope you liked it and we'll see you next chapter!**


	3. Acrobat, Assassin, and Avatar

**A/N: Welcome to chapter three, this is a fun one so we hope you like it. Thanks go to my fried/co-author/beta for this story MaxGentlman 1. When your done here go check his profile he's really good.**

 **Disclaimer: We don't own Avatar nor do we profit off this story.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Kai and Azula were traveling again, though this time it was on foot. Well, they were not "on foot" exactly, they were being carried in a royal procession by a few troops. They knew, of course, this wouldn't last. The two of them had talked with each other and Azula's trainers, Lo and Li, who had bluntly stated what they all realized, "When tracking your brother and uncle, traveling with the Royal Procession may no longer be an option." "May no longer be wise if you hope to keep the element of surprise."

So, now they were on their way to visit the people they wanted on their small, elite team and funnily enough (to Kai anyway) the journey started at a circus.

"Wait, seriously? That's where Ty Lee ran off to?" He asked, chuckling a little.

"Yes, I know it's odd, but strangely fitting for her. Are you excited to see Ty Lee again, brother? As I recall, you two had started to become very close before she left." Azula said, smirking when Kai went slightly pink, but was proud he kept his voice level.

"Yes, I am actually, it should be fun seeing her again." He said.

They arrived at the circus about an hour later. The place was alive with activity: animal tamers, jugglers, and of course, the acrobats. Even though he maintained a serious face, Kai can't help but still feel a bit of childish wonder at the sights around him. They soon found Ty Lee in front of one of the tents, standing on the very tips of her index fingers.

"Ty Lee, could that possibly be you?" Azula said in a pleasant tone.

"Azula, Kai!" Ty Lee said in excitement, flipping onto her feet and bowing before running up to the royal siblings and giving Azula a hug, "It is so good to see you two again," She said before switching over to Kai and giving him a tight hug, causing him to blush slightly.

"It's good to see you too, Ty Lee." Kai said, slightly nervous but still happy.

"Please, don't let us get in the way of... whatever it was you were doing." Azula said. Ty Lee nodded and flipped backwards and leaned on her elbows with her legs in the air, doing splits and stretches. Kai gave another blush at the girl's flexibility.

"So tell us," Azula continued, "What's the daughter of a nobleman doing here. Surely our parents didn't send us to the Royal Fire Nation Academy for Girls to end up in... places like this." She said, looking at her surroundings, seeing a platypus-bear lay an egg.

"We have a proposition for you; we're hunting traitors. You remember our old fuddy duddy Uncle right?" Azula asked.

"Oh yeah, he was so funny." Ty Lee said smiling, still leaning on her elbows and now bent so her feet stood on her head, looking as though this was as easy as walking.

"We'd be honored if you would join us on our mission." Azula offered.

"Oh, I uh would love to, but the truth is I'm really happy here, my aura has never been pinker!" She said smiling.

"We'll take your word for it. Well, we wouldn't want you to give up the life you love just to please us." Kai said, slightly disappointed, but understanding. She seemed really happy where she was.

"Thank you Kai, and you too Azula." She said, bowing to each of them before glancing at Kai, "Feel free to drop in and visit any time though." She said, winking at him and smiling as his blush returned.

They both started to leave and Azula decided to speak up, "Of course before we go, we'll have to catch your show. Both of us." She said as Ty Lee went a little stiff. Kai being there was one thing, but Azula... well, that was harder to prepare for.

"Uh, yeah, of course." She said as Azula and Kai kept walking.

"You have a plan don't you?" Kai asked.

"Of course I do, though you might not like it." She admitted.

* * *

Later that evening, Kai and Azula sat in specially made seats in the main tent as the Ring Master stood in the center of the tent.

"It is an honor to have two members of the royal family attending the show this evening. If there is anything we can do to make the show more enjoyable, all you need is ask." He said.

"Don't worry, we will." Azula said, sporting a nefarious grin that honestly sent chills down Kai's spine.

After a few opening acts, it came time for Ty Lee's performance. She was doing a high wire act dressed in some jewelery and a headdress while doing a one-handed hand stand, balancing from one hand to the other. After a few minutes of watching the act, Azula turned to the Ring Master, who was sitting next to the royal seats.

"Do you think she'll fall?" She asked.

"Of course not, your highness." The Ring Master said.

"Well wouldn't it be more interesting if you were to remove the net?" Azula said with a sly grin.

"Well, ugh, you see Princess..." The Ring Master tried to explain.

"You're quite right, it's been done before." Azula said dismissively as she paused in thought, "Light the net on fire." She ordered simply.

The Ring Master looked nervously at the princess, "At once, your majesty." He said in defeat before getting up and setting the net ablaze. Kai could see the nervous look on Ty Lee's face as sweat dripped from her forehead from a mix of both fear and heat. Seeing that her plan was working, Azula turned to the Ring Master once again.

"Do you have any dangerous, exotic animals?" She asked.

"Well our circus houses the largest collection of-" The Ring Master was saying before Azula interrupted.

"Release them all." She ordered nonchalantly. The rest of the act went on with all forms of rare creatures crawling, scurrying, and flying all around the tent, Ty Lee not losing focus from her act and not letting the distractions get to her.

* * *

After the amazing, and incredibly dangerous, show, Azula and Kai were allowed backstage as the animals were rounded up. Ty Lee was back in her usual pink outfit, though with the crown from her previous outfit. Azula was smiling, Kai was looking worried. Azula set down a baroque of black orchids.

"What an exquisite performance, I can't wait to see how you'll ever top yourself tomorrow." She said casually.

"I'm sorry Azula, but unfortunately there won't be a show tomorrow." She said.

"Really?" Azula asked, smirking.

"Yes, the universe has given me strong hints that it's time for a career change, I would like to join you both on your mission. Besides, it'll be nice catching up with you both." She said, glancing at Kai as Azula smiled.

"Fantastic, Kai will help you pack and I'll go make sure the guards prepare a room for you." Azula said, leaving the tent, clearly hoping that maybe Kai would give Ty Lee more reason to stick with them.

"Listen, about your show, I'm sorry for what happened. Azula can get a bit... insistent." Kai said.

"Oh don't worry, I know how Azula is. She was like that back when we were in school. Heck, she was like that when we were still growing up." She said, laughing a bit at the childhood memory.

"Yeah." Kai chuckled as he too remembered.

"So is there gonna be anyone else coming?" Ty Lee asked, packing some clothes into a suitcase.

"Our next stop will be Omashu to pick up Mai." Kai answered.

"Really? Oh, it'll be so great to see her too!" She said in excitement.

"Yeah, I wonder if she's still the ray of sunshine she was last time we saw her?" Kai said sarcastically. Ty Lee giggled at Kai's comment before closing the top of her bag.

"Alright, ready to go!" She said before grabbing Kai's hand and ran out the door, causing him to blush slightly at the bodily contact.

They were at the group rather quickly and soon they were off on their next trip. It all passed in a blur of conversation and laughter, even from Azula, though she was watching both of them carefully.

"So, Ty Lee, tell me, other than the circus, how have things been? Seen anything fun? Met anyone special?" Azula asked.

"Things have been great! I've seen so many amazing things, that I never would have if I stayed in the Fire Nation. No, no one special really, I haven't really been looking, but you never know." She said, glancing at Kai briefly.

"Yes, I suppose so." Azula said

Omashu hadn't been too far from where the circus had been so they arrived by mid morning the next day. The procession was met by Mai, who bowed when Azula got out.

"Please say you're here to kill me?" She asked before smiling and hugging her.

"It's great to see you too Mai." She said as Kai and Ty Lee stepped out.

"Well I guess your dad finally let you off the leash?" She asked Kai, who smiled and shrugged, "Well he still has Azula watching me."

Ty Lee rushed forward and hugged Mai.

"I thought you ran away to the circus? You said it was your calling." Mai asked.

"Azula called a little louder." She said.

After the greetings, the group was told about the situation in the city. About how there were rebels and how they kidnapped Mai's baby brother, Tom-Tom. Mai's father, the governor, already sent a messenger hawk to the rebels, saying that in exchange for Tom-Tom they would give them King Bumi. Under the insistence of Azula, Mai would handle the trade. The next morning, the four of them gathered at the top of a statue of Fire Lord Ozai being built in the center of the city. A few minutes after they arrived, three kids arrived with Tom-Tom on the far end of the scaffolding.

One was a young boy about Kai's age. He wore a red and yellow outfit with a red turban-like hat around his head and carrying a staff with him. One was a young girl, about a year older than the boy. She was wearing a blue Water Tribe dress with her brown hair in a braid. And the third one was a boy about Zuko's age, wearing Water Tribe colors and had a metal club strapped to his side. The boy in the hat, who was carrying Tom-Tom with him, stepped forward.

"Do you have Tom-Tom?" Azula asked in her usual commanding voice.

"He's right here," The boy said, "Where's Bumi?" He asked. Mai obliged and signaled a person above them. The person did as ordered and turned a crank that lowered a coffin-like object that was attached to a chain. The object turned during its decent and when it turned around it showed the mad old King Bumi laughing and snorting, not even caring that he was trapped in a cage or that he was a prisoner.

 _'What a strange old man.'_ Kai thought to himself as he looked at the almost deranged king as he was placed behind them.

"Alright, we're ready to trade." The boy said carefully.

Then another thought occurred to Kai that he felt he should voice, "Wait, hold on a second here, but I just thought of something. Do any of you mind?" He asked, looking at Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula.

"Not at all brother, please go on." Azula said as Mai and Ty Lee nodded.

"Well, are we really about to trade a two year old for a king? A powerful, Earth bending, king? Forgive me, but no matter the two year old, that seems a bit of an unfair trade on our part strategy wise, don't you think?" Kai said, speaking with a cold sort of reason that made Azula proud.

"You know something Kai, you're right." Mai said, stepping forwards and raising her arm, "The deals off." She said as Bumi was raised again.

"Bye, bye everyone." He said, laughing as he was lifted away again.

"Bumi!" The boy called out, racing forward at an admittedly impressive speed that he was kicking up a dust cloud behind him.

On instinct, Kai and Azula both shot large blasts of fire at him, which, much to their surprise, he dodged by leaping over several feet into the air before pulling out his staff, which turned into a glider as his turban fell away, revealing a blue arrow on his forehead as he caught the cloth in his mouth.

"The Avatar." Kai said, surprised.

"Lucky us." Azula said, smirking.

The Avatar glided up the scaffolding until he landed on top of Bumi's prison.

"Aang, is that you?" Bumi asked.

"Don't worry, I'm here to get you out Bumi." Aang said, before blowing air on the chains suspending the prison, causing them to freeze.

"Kai, you, Mai, and Ty Lee deal with those two, the Avatar is mine." Azula said, climbing up the scaffolding.

* * *

Kai did as she ordered and charged at the other two, followed close behind by Mai and Ty Lee. He fired a couple fireballs at the girl but she blocked them by bending water from a pouch on her hip. Mai tried throwing a couple of knives at the girl but she bent the water to break a board beneath her that flew up and blocked the knives in midair.

As Mai and Kai dealt with the bender, the older boy was running away from the fight with Tom-Tom. Before he could reach the end of the walkway though, he was hit in the sole of his foot by Ty Lee, who had snuck under the walkway and punched his foot through a hole in the boards. While it may seem like a small injury to the naked eye, in reality Ty Lee hit him in a pressure point that temporarily paralyzed that muscle.

While the girl was blocking the oncoming fireballs and knives, she was unaware that Ty Lee was sneaking up behind her. Faster than a Buzzard-Wasp, Ty Lee struck the girl in the arms, shoulders, and back and flipped over to Mai and Kai. The girl just looked at her arms in confusion as to what just happened before trying to bend the water in front of her. To her surprise, she wasn't able to lift the water.

"How are you going to fight without your bending?" Mai taunted, pulling out a three pronged dagger only for it to be knocked away by a boomerang from the older boy, who was now riding a flying Bison.

 _'Thought those were extinct?'_ Kai thought to himself.

"I seem to manage!" The boy said smugly as he landed the bison in front of them and it's tail blew all three of them away with a powerful gust.

The girl boarded the bison and they took off to where Kai could just see Azula chasing the Avatar and the King as they slid down the mail chutes.

Fearing that Azula could be in danger, Kai used fire bending to boost himself into the air and managed to grab onto the bison's tail. He pulled himself up onto the saddle and attacked. They both managed to dodge and cried out. The Avatar, who appeared to be talking to the mad king, gasped and flew up to join in the attack.

Kai found himself being backed up as he avoided the air bender's attacks. He would have been fine, Ty Lee had clearly taken away the girl's bending for a short time and the boy hadn't seemed a threat. With the air bender, he wasn't sure how to respond to his assaults.

 _'Damn, have to find a way to fall back and get out of this.'_ Kai thought as they gained ground on him, and there was already little space for him anyway.

As he was dealing with the air bender, he failed to notice the other boy toss his boomerang and being to caught up with dodging Aang, he never noticed the boomerang until it slammed into the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

* * *

 **-Azula and Co-**

Azula had walked back up the mail chute after her failed attempt to capture Aang. Luckily, King Bumi was foolish enough to return of his own free will. When she made it back to the top of the chute, she found Mai and Ty Lee. But wait, where was Kai?

"Ty Lee, where's Kai?" Azula asked firmly.

"He tried to not let the Avatar's friends escape so he jumped onto there flying animal and fought them." Ty Lee explained.

"Why did you not go after them with him?" She asked with a slightly condescending tone.

"They were to far off. The only reason he got on was 'cause he boosted there with Fire bending." Ty Lee said, nervously defending herself. Azula just glared at her for a minute before doing a spin kick that sent a crescent wave of blue fire at a wall of scaffolding, setting it ablaze.

"Calm down, Azula," Mai said, "I'm sure he's fine. Knowing him, he's probably on his way back here."

* * *

 **-Team Avatar-**

Kai began to stir from his unconscious state. He felt the back of his head throb as he opened his eyes. When they were open, he was met with the older boy pointing his club at him on his left and the girl looking at him on his right. He tried moving his hands but he found them bound together tightly with rope. He looked behind himself to get a good look at them and found he was indeed bound with rope. He then turned his head back and found that the boy still pointing his club at him.

"You know, if you keep pointing that thing at me, I'd begin to think you have some hostilities toward me." Kai said in a slightly joking tone.

"Shut up, you're a fire bender and that's enough of an issue for me." He said.

"And you're a member of the royal family, I recognize the crest." The girl said.

"Oh fantastic, so you've had a few run ins with my brother then? Well, then you know how stubborn my family can be. So, why not just let me go and walk away now. Believe me, if you think Zuko was a problem, Azula is so much worse." Kai said casually.

"Yeah right, the second we cut you free you'd just try to burn us again." The boy said, jabbing Kai with his club.

"To be fair I could probably just burn through the ropes and do that now, I am just being polite." Kai said.

"He makes a good point, we could always just you know..." The boy trailed off, dragging his finger across his throat.

"No, that isn't an option here, it would cause more problems than it would ever solve. If we killed one of the fire lord's children, if we were not already at the top of his list, we would be then. Besides, you know how I feel about killing." The Avatar said, coming around on the sky bison.

Privately, Kai was not sure how his own death would effect his father. He knew his sister would swear vengeance, but his father... he actually never seemed to care about anyone other than himself most days. Still, saying all that probably wouldn't help so he decided that for now the best thing he could do was stay silent and wait for a good time to try and escape.

"I think I have something, what if we took him to Ba Sing Se with us and then from there we can get Aang an Earth Bending teacher and send a ransom to the Fire Nation; make a demand in return for their prince." The girl said.

"Yeah, because that worked out so well for us when we tried a hostage exchange earlier." The Boy said in a tone heavy with sarcasm.

"This time though, we have a better bargaining stance, especially if we are in the Earth Kingdom's capital." She pointed out.

"Speaking of which, you better have given that baby back to its family." Kai said warningly.

"We did. Unlike you in the Fire Nation, we stick by our word. Now get moving." The boy said.

"We'll watch him in shifts while we fly." The Avatar said.

'This will be interesting.' Kai thought, smirking as he was dragged onto the bison.

After about an hour or so of flying and the wonder of it wore off, Kai began to feel bored. Looking at the girl, he decided to try and start a conversation to alleviate the boredom.

"Excuse me," He said, getting her attention, "Listen, we might've gotten off on the wrong foot earlier. Maybe we can start over a bit? Let's start with names, I'm Kai." He said in a pleasant tone. The girl frowned slightly, still not trusting him but she too was also feeling like she needed something to pass the time. After a deep sigh, she turned to Kai and introduced herself.

"I'm Katara." She said.

"Nice to meet you. I would shake your hand but my hands are quite literally tied." Kai joked, "May I ask your friends' names?" He asked, looking over to the Avatar and the boy.

"Of course, this is my brother, Sokka," She said, gesturing to the boy with the club, "And this is Aang, the Avatar." She said, gesturing to the tattooed boy at the head of the bison, who looked back at him and gave a slightly goofy grin and a wave. Before he could say "Nice to meet you", what looked like a monkey with bat ears and wings landed beside him, surprising him a bit and making chittering noises as it sniffed at him.

"Oh, and that's Momo, our flying lemur." Katara said with a smile after seeing Kai's reaction to Momo.

"Your flying lemur? That's definitely new." Kai said, examining Momo, who seemed just as interested in him.

"Yeah, but he's our little guy." Katara said smiling.

"Hey Katara, stop talking to the fire prince, he's dangerous." Sokka said as if it was obvious.

"He's a bound prisoner on a flying Bison with his only escape being a hundred foot fall. Besides, it's not bad to talk to him, sometimes it can really help you understand others you know, and it could change people." Katara said defensively.

"Besides that, I am trying to be nice here. I haven't ever been outside the Fire Nation and so far it's been... interesting." Kai said after pausing to think for a second.

"You're still dangerous." Sokka said.

"Maybe, but so are you three. I am out numbered and it's already been proven that me going against you three alone doesn't end well for me." Kai said, gesturing to his bound hands.

Sokka opened his mouth, looking ready to argue, and then closed it, realizing they had a point.

"Exactly." Kai said, smiling and blowing his hair out of his eyes.

"So Aang, what did Bumi say? Why did he give himself up, and why isn't he teaching you Earth bending?" Katara asked, turning away from Kai and looking curious and worried.

"He said a lot. He told me that he wasn't the right master for me, that my teacher would be someone who had mastered 'neutral jing'. Someone who waits and listens before they strike." Aang said. This however only really served to confuse the others on the Bison, even Momo looked confused from his new perch on Kai's head.

"It's hard to explain, I know, but that's what he said." Aang shrugged.

"Well, it's not hard to understand really, it's just, and maybe this is just me, but from what I understand most Earth Benders seem to be more in the charge forward and attack with Earth and not the wait and listen type." Kai said.

"Much as I hate to agree with the Fire Prince, he has a point." Sokka admitted.

"I know, it's just what Bumi said and that's what I am going to do, no matter how long it takes. I just hope it won't take too long." Aang sighed.

* * *

 **-Azula and Co-**

Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee were now leaving Omashu, on their way to hunt down Iroh and Zuko. Azula was absolutely steaming at the events that had transpired the previous day. In an attempt to break the deafening silence, Ty Lee turned to Mai.

"So we're hunting for Zuko and his uncle. It'll be nice to see him again, won't it, Mai?" She asked, giving a bit of a suggestive smile, causing Mai to actually smile and blush slightly.

"That's not all," Azula spoke up, "We have a new objective: capture the Avatar and finding my brother." She said, leering at the road ahead.

* * *

 **A/N: So, that's chapter 3. We hope you liked it. How, will things go for Kai with team Avatar? We'll see. FOr now though thank you for reading and we'll see you next chapter!**


	4. The Fire Prince and the Spirit Swamp

**A/N: Hello, all and welcome to Chapter 4 of Magma. Thanks to MaxGentlman 1 my friend, beta, and co-author chack out his profile he's great.**

 **Disclaimer: We don't own Avatar Nick does, we are happy to play in their sandbox though.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

It had been a couple of days since the events at Omashu. Kai was still being held prisoner and they at least cut his restraints but was still under constant watch. He was busy playing with Momo while Aang was flying Appa, Katara was going over their supplies, and Sokka was sharpening his machete.

Although he was distracted, Kai soon noticed that they were steadily descending. Looking around, he was proven right and found that they were headed right for a swamp.

"Aang, what's going on?" Sokka asked. Aang's eyes quickly widened when he realized they were descending and quickly leveled off.

"What? What's happening?" Aang asked.

"You seemed distracted, something wrong?" Kai asked curiously.

"Well... this gonna sound crazy, but I heard the swamp calling to me." He said.

"Are you sure?" Katara asked.

"Positive. Look, Bumi told me that I need to wait and listen to become a great Earth Bender and now the Earth is literally calling to me. Do you think I should really ignore it?" Aang asked.

The others looked over the edge of the saddle into the swamp below, and in spite of all he had been trained for, Kai felt a feeling of dread in his stomach.

"Yes," Sokka said simply.

"Yeah, I'm not sure Aang, there's just something ominous about the place." Katara said.

"It feels... different. I'm not sure how, but it does." Kai said carefully. Appa let out a low growl and Momo retreated from the edge of the saddle,"See, even Appa and Momo don't like it here." Sokka said.

"Alright, since everyone feels so strongly about this, yip yip!" Aang said, pulling on Appa's reigns.

As they began to glide up again, Kai looked behind them, and his heart sank like a stone, "Um, you might want to go a little faster." He said and they all looked to see a giant tornado heading towards them.

"Aang, throw in an extra yip! We gotta move!" Sokka said as Appa sped up, but the tornado was too close and the current began to pick Sokka and Kai up off the saddle. Katara reached out, seizing her brother while Kai held on to the saddle. True, he could let go and possibly escape, but he wasn't sure he would survive a high speed fall like this.

Aang leaped up from his position and bent air around them so that Kai and Sokka were firmly back on the saddle, but they were all now in the center of the tornado which didn't seem to keep moving past them. Kai saw the strain on Aang's face as he tried to hold the air dome around them and then he lost his focus and they were all swept away by the wind.

They fell through the foliage of the swamp forest, hitting quite a few branches on the way. They hit the swamp floor with a large splash. As they picked themselves up from the muddy waters, they quickly noticed something.

"Where's Appa and Momo?" Katara asked. Seeing that she was right, Appa and Momo being nowhere insight, Aang climbed up a nearby tall tree and scanned the surrounding area.

"Appa! Momo!" He called out but to no avail.

"Any sign of them?" Katara asked as Aang jumped from the tree and back onto the wet ground.

"No, couldn't see a trace of them. What's weirder is there's no sign of that tornado either." Aang said.

"I've studied a lot back home and even I haven't heard of a disappearing tornado." Kai said.

"Look guys, the best thing we can do for now is try and get out of here." Sokka said, unsheathing his machete.

"Hey Sokka, you got an elbow leech." Kai stated flatly.

"Aah! Where?!" He yelled.

"Where do you think?" Kai asked rhetorically. Sokka looked at his elbow and found the fat bloodsucker stuck to it. He then pulled at it and managed to pry it off.

"Why do things keep sticking to me?!" He yelled in annoyance,"We'd better hurry up and find them then, the sooner we can get out of here the better." Sokka said, swinging his machete and cutting through the vines with little effort.

"Hey, maybe we should be nicer to the swamp?" Aang suggested.

'How can you be rude to a swamp?' Kai thought.

"They're just plants Aang, do you want me to say please and thank you as I swing my machete back and forth?" Sokka asked.

"Maybe we should listen to Aang, something about this place feels, I don't know, alive." Katara said.

"I'm sure that there are plenty of things alive in here, and if we don't want to end up eaten by one of those things, we need to find Appa as fast as we can." Sokka said, chopping at another vine clump.

"Odd as this is, I kind of agree with Sokka." Kai said, lighting one of his hands to shed some light on the area.

"I am honestly surprised you're still here. I mean with Appa gone and all I figured you'd at least try to escape." Katara admitted.

Kai smirked. "Please, you might have a point if we had crashed anywhere other than a swamp that seemed to stretch on for miles when we saw it from the sky. Much as I kind of hate to admit it, you all need me for fire and light and I need all of you because the bison is the best way out of here." Kai said in a calm, tactical tone of voice.

Katara frowned at his tone but he was right, they needed him as much as he needed them. They continued on through the swamp, wandering aimlessly. It wasn't long before it became dusk and they made no progress in finding Appa, Momo, or a way out of the swamp.

"Listen guys, it's getting late. We should make a fire and try again in the morning." Sokka said before going over to some nearby low-hanging branches and cutting them to bits.

"Sokka, I really think you shouldn't be doing that." Aang said.

"Oh don't worry, Aang, I asked the plants and they said it was fine. Isn't that right?" He asked a plant next to him before putting a hand behind it and used it like a puppet.

"Oh yes, please use us for firewood." He made the plant say in a high-pitched voice before going back to chopping branches.

"Hey Kai, mind giving me a hand? Or is the prince of the Fire Nation too good for some manual labor?" Sokka asked sarcastically. Kai glared at him slightly before joining him in gathering firewood.

The night soon came and the group was gathered under the roots of a large tree around a fire that Kai had ignited.

"Does anyone else get the feeling we're being watched?" Katara asked, glancing at the other three.

Sokka spoke up, "Please we're all alone out here, right Kai?" He asked, glancing at the fire prince who simply sat cross legged in his place, his eyes closed as he shrugged calmly.

Sokka looked ready to respond, but a bug kept buzzing around him and he started swiping at it with his machete, and just as he was about to hit it, the bug lit up like a small white sun, making even Kai open his eyes as its light shone into the dark, revealing several pairs of bright white eyes before they vanished into the dark again.

"Yeah, all alone except for them." Aang said.

"Except for them, right." Sokka said as they all had now gathered so they were back to back with Kai and each other.

Kai glanced around with a sigh, 'This is going to be a long night.' He thought. Even though he wouldn't admit to it, he himself was also a bit creeped out by this place.

Hours later, as the last embers of the fire died out and the four of them had fallen into semi-deep sleeps, vines began to creep out of the swamp and trees, wrapping around each of them. Then suddenly, they were all pulled away from each other in separate directions, instantly waking them all.

Sokka managed to stab his machete in the ground, but the others were pulled into the mist.

* * *

 **-With Kai-**

Kai, after taking note that the vines were wrapped around his arms and legs, decided that now was the time to start fighting back.

 _'Though, never thought I would be fighting vines of all things.'_ He thought as he produced fire from his feet and burnt through the ones on his legs before lighting each of his pointer fingers ablaze and severing the ones on his arms. He was free and he fell about three feet to the ground.

Landing, he swiftly began to use his bending to hack apart the vines that continued to try and tangle him.

"This is getting annoying!" He shouted, losing his temper a bit and releasing a dome of fire around himself that burnt all the plants around him and left him free to run, which he did, using a little fire bending to boost himself into the trees.

He was running through the branches as fast as he could, only slowing down to fire off a couple of suppressing shots at his pursuer. After about ten minutes of running, he looked back to find the vines were no longer chasing him. Breathing a deep(and in his opinion) well deserved, breath, he looked at his surroundings. He was in a small clearing surrounded by trees, moss, and shin deep swamp water. He then came to the realization that he was lost and alone.

"Well that's just dandy." He sarcastically said to himself. Knowing that there was no real point in staying put, he started walking in the direction close to where he came, not using the exact direction, fearing that whatever was chasing him was back there.

After walking for about ten minutes, he couldn't help but feel that he was going in circles.

"I could swear I passed that cluster of hanging moss twice already." He said to himself. He then heard a noise behind him. Turning around fast, ready for an attack if needed, Kai looked around and found nothing there. He put his arms down, chalking it up to his imagination. But suddenly, he heard the noise again. Focusing his senses, he listened to the noise. To his surprise, it sounded like laughter, children's laughter.

 _'Why would kids be in a swamp?'_ He thought. _'But,'_ He began to reason, _'they could help me find the others and help us get out of here.'_ He thought before going in the direction of the laughing. He continued to walk, the laughter getting louder as he continued. It became louder and louder until he came to a clearing and he couldn't believe his eyes.

There, in the center of the clearing, was a cherry blossom tree, providing shade to a small group of people. There was a woman, a young girl, a man, and two boys, one older than the other. What was most surprising was they were wearing fine Fire Nation clothing, similar to what he'd wear at home.

The girl was playing with the youngest of the two brothers while the oldest was sitting next to the woman, leaning against her side with a smile on his face. The man was chuckling at the children's activities before they were all brought into a large hug.

A tear came to Kai's eye when he recognized these people. They were his family. He was seeing his family, together and happy. He started to walk towards them. He didn't know what he was doing, he had no control over his legs. He was only a couple of feet away from them now. He reached out to touch them but when he did, they disappeared. Instead of the beautiful cherry blossom tree that he saw before, there was a a moss-covered swamp tree in its place. All he could do at that moment was fall to his knees and he silently wept to himself.

 _'Father would probably kill me if he caught me crying,'_ He thought to himself half jokingly, _'He would call me weak and a disgrace.'_ He thought as he continued crying.

He found that he didn't care at the moment what father would care about, he was starting realize that more than he had ever thought was wrong with his father, his nation, and his family. He had just seen all he had hoped for and wanted, and yet he knew it wasn't going to be. Too much had happened between his family, especially to his mother and Zuko. He wasn't sure they would ever truly recover.

He didn't know how long he sat there, thinking things over and crying silently, but it seemed like a while before he heard rustling and knew he had to move and find the others. Looking at the tree that had been the cherry blossom tree one last time, he walked past it, lost in his thoughts but still on guard.

* * *

 **-With Katara-**

Katara had managed to escape her own vines with water bending and quick slash's before she had began to run away. Now, after a while, she was lost and that was never good.

"Aang! Sokka! Kai!" She called out as she made her way through the dark and murky waters. Then she saw a patch of sunlight ahead and headed that way. What she saw there was an older woman dressed in Water Tribe clothes with her back to Katara. She gasped when she recognized the braid.

"Mom!?" She called out, happily rushing towards her, tears of joy leaking from her eyes at finally finding her mother, "Mom! I can't believe you..." She started and then froze, because on putting her hand on her mother's shoulder, the illusion dropped and she was staring at a broken tree trunk.

Grief passed through her and she fell to her knee's and began to cry.

* * *

 **-With Sokka-**

"Aang! Katara!" Sokka kept calling out as he slashed through dense clumps of vine.

"Dumb ugly vines!" He muttered, getting tangled in a patch. "Oh, you think you're so tough huh!?" He growled before slashing wildly in every direction and managing to get himself free, even though he fell face first into the swamp.

"Why is it always me?" He muttered, standing up and spitting swamp water out of his mouth. As he looked around, he saw someone floating in the air dressed in white and light blue and she seemed to glow and be slightly transparent, but he recognized her.

"Yue?" He said, somehow happy and incredibly sad all at once, "No, no it can't be." He said, backing away and turning his back on her.

"It's just a trick of the light, swamp gas, or I hit my head running away last night, I'm going crazy." He said, looking back to see her still there, and as he approached, she spoke.

"You didn't protect me!" She accused. He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and looked back at her and she was gone. He sighed and turned to leave and she was right behind him. He jumped and fell over in the water and she was gone again. Her accusation echoing in his ears.

Sighing again, but refusing to cry, he drew his machete and set off to find the others again.

* * *

 **-With Aang-**

Aang managed to outrun the living vines but found himself lost in the dense swamp forest. He called out to his friends as he continued to wander back in the direction he thought he came from. His ears perked up when he heard what sounded like laughing. Thinking it was someone who could maybe help he followed the noise. He came to a small clearing where a large rock was sitting in the center. At the very top of the large boulder was a small girl in a white dress with a boar with wings flying around her.

"Excuse me, can you help me?" Aang called out to her. The girl just giggled and ran in the opposite direction,"Hey, wait!" Aang called out, running after her. He ran after her through and around the dense forest, but she always seemed to evade him. He was about to catch her when he swung from a vine but he missed her and ended up falling through a curtain of vines where he somehow ran into Kai, Katara, and Sokka. They all fell over in a heap on impact.

"Oh, great, everyone's here." Kai said, pushing Sokka off of himself as he dusted dirt and grit off of himself.

"What do you guys think you're doing!? I've been looking all over for you!" Sokka shouted, waving his arms around.

"Well I've been wandering around looking for you!" Katara shot back.

"So have I." Kai admitted.

"I was chasing some girl." Aang said, bending the air under himself so he was in a standing position again and helping Katara up, "What girl?" She asked.

"I don't know, I just heard laughing and then I saw some girl in a fancy dress." Aang shrugged.

"Well then there must be a tea party here and the tornado just forgot to give us our invitations." Sokka said in his usual sarcasm heavy tone of voice as Aang and Kai looked at him with mildly annoyed looks.

"I saw my family, or at least how I always wanted my family to be." Kai admitted, keeping himself calm even as he felt a twist in his gut thinking about it again.

"I... I thought I saw mom." Katara admitted, looking down at the branch beneath them. That took the tone out of Sokka's voice as he looked shocked, then sad, and then determined.

"Look, we were all just scared, and hungry, and our minds were playing tricks on us, and that's why we all saw things out here." Sokka said in a tone of someone putting the pieces together.

"Wait, you saw something too?" Katara asked as they all looked over to Sokka, who looked at the ground sadly.

"I thought I saw Yue, but that doesn't prove anything, I think about her all the time, and Katara you saw mom, someone you miss a lot. Kai you saw something that you've apparently always wanted."

"What about me though? I didn't know the girl in my vision and all of our visions led us here." Aang said, looking up at a giant tree that they now stood on the roots of.

"Okay, so where is here? The middle of the swamp?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, the center, it's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here, I knew it." Aang said smiling.

"It's just a tree, it can't call anyone. Look, for the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here." Sokka said, and as if to taunt him, at that moment a giant monster made of vines burst from the water below.

The vine creature towered over the young heroes. It looked like a large cluster of vines in the shape of a torso and arms with a creepy wooden mask at the center of it. Not a second after emerging from the water did it shoot out a cluster of vines at Sokka and retract him into its body. When he hit its body, vines began to wrap and constrict around him.

"Sokka!" Katara yelled out as she attempted to attack the creature, but was swatted away before she could. Aang bent some air at the beast and managed to stagger it while Kai helped Katara to her feet.

"What should I do?" He asked.

"You can't Fire Bend against that thing, not while Sokka's still trapped in it." She explained.

"Well you better have a plan on getting him out." Kai said.

"Don't worry, Aang and I have something." She said with a small smirk before rushing at the creature again. She sent waves of water at the vine monster, causing it to become off balance. She then looped around it and blew cold air at its center, where Sokka was being held.

"Aang, now!" Katara yelled, getting out of the way as Aang shot a strong blast of air at the creature, knocking a huge ball of ice holding Sokka out of it. This did little to damage it as vines snaked their way through the water and into the monster's body, replacing the vines it had lost.

Seeing that Sokka was now out of harm's way, Kai began to shoot fire blasts at the monster, causing it to thrash about, trying to put out the fires. Katara joined in and bent the swamp water into circular blades that sliced through the monster's vines. For a brief moment, they saw what looked like a man inside the monster before vines covered him up.

"There's someone inside, he's bending the vines!" Sokka called out.

Kai and Katara continued their assault on the beast until Aang swooped down from the top of a tree and delivered a strong wind blast to the beast. The creature then began to fall to pieces, revealing a chubby old man with a scruffy beard in a skirt made of leaves.

"Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?" Aang asked as they all stood ready to fight.

"Wait! I didn't call you here." He said in a slightly deep voice, confusing all of them.

"We were flying over the swamp when I heard something calling to me and telling me to land." Aang said.

"He's the Avatar, this sort of thing happens a lot." Sokka said, shrugging.

"The Avatar huh? Come with me." He said, leading them through a path and bending vines and plants out of their way as they climbed up the tree, seeing how far the swamp stretched.

* * *

"So, if you didn't call us here, who are you then?" Katara asked.

"I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it, like the fella with the big knife or the other one with the Fire bending." He said, making Sokka smile just a little.

"See, completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home, nothing mystical about it." He said, sheething his machete and following them closer to the trunk.

"Oh but the swamp is a mystical place, it's sacred even. I reached enlightenment right here beneath the Bangyon-Grove tree. I heard it calling me, just like you did." He said.

"Sure you did, it seems real chatty." Sokka said in a disbelieving tone.

"See, this whole swamp is actually one tree spread out over miles. Branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more. One big, living organism. Just like the entire world." The man explained.

"The whole world?" Aang asked.

"Sure. We may all look different, sound different, but we're still all people." He reasoned.

"When we were in the swamp, we saw things, people we used to know." Katara said.

"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we've loved, folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death." The man explained further.

"So that explains what we saw. Katara saw her mother and I saw my family when we were happy." Kai said in a melancholic tone.

"But that doesn't explain my vision," Aang said, "I saw a girl I've never met before."

"Remember what I said?" The man said.

"Time is an illusion. So, it's someone I haven't met yet." Aang surmised, the man nodding at his answer.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa and Momo or we are going to be stuck here for a while." Sokka said irritably.

"I think I know how to find them. Everything is connected." Aang said, leaning down and placing his hand on the tree and Kai was surprised when the arrow tattoo on that hand glowed bright white.

Aang saw everything, every inch of the swamp, and he had to admit in it's own way it was a beautiful thing to behold, then he saw Appa caught in a net by some other swamp men.

"Come on we have to hurry!" He said and they set off into the swamp.

After running for only a few minutes, Kai heard someone singing, "Set my lines by the riverbed, caught ten fish and I killed 'em dead. Cut 'em, and Gut 'em and I tossed the heads in the water to keep them cat-gators fed."

Aang then used waterbending to blast one of the boats over, sending the two men within flying, "Appa!" He said, blasting the one who had been singing off the boat and into the water, which set Momo free from the bag he had been holding.

"We're under attack!" One of the swamp men said, bending the water towards them. Aang and Katara blocked it, trying to push it back so the wave just seemed to shift back and forth.

"Hey, you guys are water benders." Katara said as they all stopped.

"You too!? That means we's kin!" The swamp man said. Katara looked upset and a bit disturbed by the prospect, but Kai fell over laughing as Sokka and the first man arrived.

"Hey Huu, how you been?" The man who had called Katara kin asked.

"Oh, you know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual." He shrugged.

"Huu?" Sokka asked as Kai continued laughing at the whole situation.

* * *

Later that evening, the swamp men led the heroes to their camp and cooked them some food. They cooked them spit roasted swamp animals such as possum-chicken and various fish. While the hospitality was appreciated, the group still thought they were an odd bunch.

"What do y'all think of the possum-chicken?" The skinny swamp man who called Katara kin, apparently named Due, asked.

"Tastes like arctic hen." Sokka said, "Hey fire prince, hows the food?" He asked in a slightly mocking tone. While Kai appreciated the meal he was slightly grossed out by the food they cooked up; he's eating a giant bug for crying out loud!

"So why did you want to eat Appa and Momo when you have plenty of those things around?" Kai asked, pointing to a cat-gator behind Due.

"What, eat Slim?" Another swamp man, named Tho, asked.

"He's like part of the family. Ain't that right, Slim?" Due said, giving the cat-gator a small fish and it ate it.

"Here you go, Slim." Sokka said, tossing a roasted bug from his food at the cat-gator, only for it to growl at him angrily. Due and Tho laughed at his attempt at feeding Slim.

"Slim don't eat bugs, that's people food." Due said as if it were obvious.

"Okay, we know about how you moved the vines, but how did you make that giant tornado?" Aang asked Huu curiously.

"I can't do that, all I do is bend the water in the vines." Huu said, not knowing what Aang was talking about.

"Oh well, no accounting for weather." Sokka said, shrugging.

"But what about those visions in the swamp we saw?" Katara said, annoyed at her brother's dismissive attitude toward the subject.

"Look, we were tired and hungry. People hallucinate when their starving. I'm eating a giant bug!" He said, taking a bite out of the giant insect before shuddering at the taste.

"Maybe he has point." Kai said.

Later on, just as night was falling and they were off in the sky again, Kai found himself lost in thought. What Huu had said about time being an illusion was odd, but had some merit. It also made him wonder though, was it possible that he and his family could be happy again? Or was he just fooling himself in believing that was at all possible. He wasn't sure.

 _'I wish these things could be simple.'_ He thought, laying back and staring at the night sky as he drifted off into sleep, his mind still on his family.

* * *

 **A/N: And that ladies and Gentleman is Chapter 4! We hope you liked it leave a review if you are so inclined, and we shall see you next time!**


	5. Two of a Kind

**A/N: Hello everyone welcome to chapter 5! I can't think of anything else to say here. Special thanks to my co-author/friend/beta MaxGentlman1 go check his profile when your done here he's great.**

 **Disclaimer: We still don't own Avatar as far as I know.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Kai had been traveling with the Avatar's group for over a week now and while he was still a "prisoner", he was allowed to go about freely and he pitched in with some of the work. They were currently in a small town gathering supplies. Deciding that it would be best to not be wearing Fire Nation colors in an Earth Kingdom village, Kai decided on buying some new clothes while they were in town.

It was a simple green shirt and vest with brown pants and shoes with wrist wraps. As he looked himself over, he had to admit, green did suit him. After purchasing the change of clothes, he met up with the group, who were currently looking over a satchel.

"It is a really nice bag." Sokka said.

"Well then you should buy it, you deserve something nice." Katara said.

"Hey, what's going on?" Kai asked Aang, who was sitting on the ground with a tired look on his face.

"Sokka's been debating whether or not to buy that bag for ten minutes now." Aang said with a yawn.

"But it's too expensive." Sokka said.

"Then don't buy it then." Katara said before getting tired of this and walking away, along with Aang and Kai. Sokka began to follow them but then turned around.

"On second thought, I think I will get it." He said.

As they walked down the street, taking in the town, a man dressed in green approached them, "Hey, you kids like Earthbending? Like throwing rocks? Then check out master Yu's Earthbending school." He said, handing them a flyer and walking away.

They observed the piece of paper, which showed a more regally dressed man Earthbending and on the other side was a portrait of him smiling up at them. "There's a coupon on the back, it says the first lessons free." Aang said excitedly.

"Might as well check it out then, Aang." Kai said.

"Yeah, who knows, this Master Yu could be the teacher you've been looking for." Katara added.

"Okay sure, why not?" Aang asked, shrugging and setting off to where the flyer said the school was. Once there, the others chose to wait outside the school while Aang went in and was given a practice outfit for the school and lined up with several kids who were younger than him across from another group of young kids.

He stood at attention with them as Master Yu came out, walking through the rows and inspecting them, "Take your stances." He said and all but Aang fell into a basic Earth Bending opening stance.

"Now, strike as if you're punching through your opponents head!" He said, making a fist and thrusting it forward excitedly. They all followed his orders and Aang found himself slammed in the stomach with a mid-sized rock. He flew a few feet and smashed into a large vase filled with sand.

"So, are you ready to commit to more lessons? Pay for the whole year in advance and I'll bump you up to the next belt." Master Yu said, smiling at Aang, who was now covered in sand.

"Yeah, he's not the teacher I'm looking for." Aang said to as he walked out of the school, still knocking sand out of his ears. Just as they were fixing to leave, they overheard a conversation between two boys who were walking out of the school.

"I think the boulder is gonna win back the champion belt at Earth Rumble 6." One boy with a small Mohawk said.

"Yeah, but he'd have to fight through some of the best Earthbenders in the world to get a shot at the champ." The other boy replied. Aang's ears perked up at this and he ran over to the two boys.

"Excuse me, but where is this Earth Rumble 6 being held?" He asked politely.

"It's on the island of Nunya. Nunya business." The boy with the Mohawk said as he and his companion started to laugh obnoxiously at their own joke as they walked away.

"Ha ha, 'Nunya', I'll have to remember that one." Sokka said, finding the joke amusing. Kai, on the other hand, didn't like the joke. As his blood simmered at the insult, he was stopped by Katara's hand as he was about to do something regrettable.

"Let me handle those two." She said before running off in the direction the two headed, "Hey boys, wait up." She called as she rounded a corner. Less than a minute later, she came back around the corner and ran up to the group.

"I know where it's being held, come on." She said.

"How did you get the location?" Aang asked.

"Oh, a girl has her ways." She said cryptically. As they were leaving for ER6, curiosity took over Kai and he ran around the corner Katara came from. To his surprise, he found the two boys horizontally frozen to opposite walls against each others head. He couldn't help but give a smug smile at their misfortune.

As they made their way toward ER6, Sokka looked at the bag he had purchased,"What was I thinking?! I don't need a new bag! Why did you let me buy this?!" He complained.

* * *

They made their way out of the town and over to a large secluded cave where they knew ER6 was taking place. When they entered, they were surprised to find several rows of stands around a raised rectangular ring that had the Earth Nation symbol in the center.

"Impressive." Kai admitted as they sat down.

"Front row seats, I wonder why no one else is sitting down here?" Aang asked, looking up to where other audience members were sitting. As if to answer his question, a large rock flew and nearly hit them all, "I think that's why." Sokka said.

They all turned to see a man in dark green, wearing no shirt under his vest, with black hair and eyes. He bent a large podium up and then down to get everyone's attention, "Welcome to Earth Rumble Six! I am your host Xin Fu!" He said and was met with a cascade of cheers from around the cave, which made the man smile.

"This is just going to be a bunch of guys chucking rocks at each other, isn't it?" Katara asked, staring at her fingernails.

"That's what I payed for." Sokka said happily.

"Wait, I payed." Kai protested.

"Semantics." Sokka said, waving it off as two large men stepped into the ring, one built like a wall of muscle and the other more like just a wall and missing four of his front teeth, which, along with the rest of him, made him look a bit like a Hippo Kai had to admit.

"Round one! The Boulder vs. The Big Bad Hippo!" Xin Fu announced.

"Huh." Kai said to himself, surprised that his assumption was correct.

"Listen up, Hippo, you may be big, but you ain't bad. The Boulder is gonna win this in a land slide!" The Boulder taunted, flexing his muscles with a insane look in his eyes.

"Hippo mad!" The Hippo yelled. He then started to slam his feet into the ground like a sumo wrestler does before a fight. To the group's surprise, the entire stage started to move from side to side.

"Amazing, the Hippo is actually rocking the arena!" Xin Fu yelled from his podium.

The rocking motion was causing The Boulder to become off balance. Just as he was about to fall out of the ring, he brought out a slab of the arena, bent backwards to grab it, and threw it at the Hippo, hitting him square in the face. It didn't seem to do much as Hippo still stood tall and immovable, Kai even saw him chewing bits of the rock before spitting them out.

"Impressive." Kai admitted.

Before Hippo could move, The Boulder lifted the Earth beneath him, raising the large man high into the air before he tossed him out of the ring with a great heave.

"The Boulder wins!" Xin Fu announced.

"So, how about The Boulder, Aang? He's got some good moves." Katara suggested.

"Yeah, I'm not sure on that. Bumi said that the best teacher would be someone who listens to the Earth and that guy's just listening to his big muscles. What do you think Sokka?" Aang asked as they all turned to look at Sokka.

He was now jumping up and down excitedly and waving his arms in the air, "Yeah! Woo!" He cried out.

"Next match: The Boulder vs Fire Nation Man!" He announced as a man in Fire Nation colors emerged, Kai rolled his eyes and growled. He didn't appreciate the mockery of his nation here.

The audience booed at the Fire Nation stereotype, not because it was offensive but because it fueled their hatred of the Nation even more.

"All rise for the Fire Nation national anthem." He proclaimed before singing the first couple of notes to the song only to be pelted with rocks from the audience members.

"Boo, go back to the Fire Nation!" Sokka yelled, throwing rocks of his own. When he sat down, he was met with a glare from Kai, "Sorry." He said.

"Eh, don't be, always hated that song anyway." Kai said, dismissing the subject.

After a few seconds of being pelted by rocks, Fire Nation Man sunk into the arena up to his waist and Boulder rose on a pillar of stone.

"No! Please!" He begged only for Boulder to jump off the pillar and slammed his knees into the ground, sending Fire Nation Man into the rock that landed beside the group. The audience, Sokka especially, booed at the defeated fighter.

The tournament continued with an array of colorful fighters. There was a mustached man who tunneled around beneath the arena, a skinny frog man who wore a mask, and a medium built man who swung from chains. Every single one of them were defeated by The Boulder with relative ease. After the latest fight ended, the lights began to dim and focused on Xin Fu in center stage.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for..." He announced, "The champion and winner of Earth Rumble 5, The Blind Bandit!" He yelled, pointing to a corner where a young girl stood wearing a cape and holding a championship belt. She was short, had black hair, a tomboyish look, and dead,colorless eyes.

"She can't really be blind, it's just part of her character, right?" Katara asked.

"No, I think she really is. Her eyes definitely look it." Kai said.

"I think she is...GOIN' DOWN!" Sokka said excitedly.

"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young blind girl." The Boulder said reasonably, though Kai had to admit that he was getting a little tired of The Boulder talking about himself in the third person.

"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder!" The girl challenged, smirking at the man, who look confused then determined, "The Boulder is now over his conflicted feelings and is ready to bury you in a rockalanche!"

"Bring it on 'The Pebble'!" She said before letting out a laugh for the whole arena to hear and Aang remembered hearing the same laugh in the swamp in his vision. Kai raised his eyebrows; she had guts, there was something about her that made him lean forward to watch a little closer.

The round began as the two got into their stances. The Boulder raised his foot high into the air and the girl slid her foot across the ground. As The Boulder brought his foot down, the girl kicked the ground with the heel of her foot. The very second The Boulder's foot hit the ground, his legs were moved apart by a moved piece of earth, causing him to do the splits. Everyone in the audience winced and "oohed" at the sight as Boulder let out a shrill squeal at his pain.

Immediately after her move, the girl chopped the air in front of her, causing three pillars of stone to come out of the arena and hit Boulder square in the back, sending him flying into the wall beneath the bleachers.

After the initial shock of what just happened wore off, the entire stadium erupted in cheers and applause. Kai was quite impressed at her abilities and even joined in the cheering.

"How did she do that?" Katara asked, also amazed.

"She waited... and listened." Aang said with a smile, knowing he had found his teacher.

* * *

Xin Fu jumped down as the girl held up a fist in victory as the crowd cheered and Sokka hung his head in shock and defeat at his new idol being taken out so effortlessly.

"To make things a little more interesting, I am offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat The Blind Bandit!" He called out, and at first there was no response, "What? No one dares to face her?" He asked.

Then suddenly, from beside Kai, Aang leaped down and landed in the ring, "I will!" He offered and there were more cheers that someone had stepped up, "Go Aang! Avenge The Boulder!" Sokka called out, making both Katara and Kai roll their eyes at him and continue watching the match.

"Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?" The girl asked, smirking. There was a great "Oooh!" from the crowd and Kai found himself laughing inspite of himself.

"I don't really want to fight you, I just want to talk to you." Aang said carefully.

"Boo! No talking!" Sokka jeered and Kai was forced to duck as Katara slapped Sokka on the head, "Don't boo him!" She said.

Back in the ring, the girl shot her left hand and foot forward and launched Earth towards Aang, who used his airbending to dodge and circle a little ways around her before landing, "Someone's a little lite on his feet, what's your fighting name, 'The Fancy Dancer'?" she jeered as Aang shrugged awkwardly. She shot the earth up under him and he again used his bending to steady himself in the air. Then Kai noticed something.

"She has no idea where he is." He muttered.

"Of course not, she's blind." Katara said.

"Didn't stop her before, and I mean when he's not on the ground she can't find him, even if he hovers just above it." Kai said

"So what are you saying?" Katara asked.  
"I think she can see, at least in some way."

Aang landed on the ground and the girl turned towards him again, frustrated by his evasion.

"Look, I just want to talk!" Aang said, trying to reason with her.

"Sure, allow me to introduce you to the ground!" She said, raising two large boulders from the arena and launching them at Aang. With little time to react, Aang spun around the flying rocks before blasting her with a gale force wind, knocking her clear out of the ring.

Everyone in the audience had their mouths open in total surprise. The Blind Bandit, the best earthbender in the tournament, was beaten by some skinny kid in a hat. After the shock wore off though, the stadium erupted in cheer at the victory. Xin Fu came down from his podium and onto the arena as the group ran up to Aang and payed him congratulations.

"And, as promised, I award the challenger with the gold pieces and the champion belt!" He announced to the audience, making them applaud harder. As they were celebrating, Aang noticed the girl stomping away from the ring.

"Hey, wait up!" He called after her.

"Leave me alone!" She yelled back.

"You don't understand, I need an earthbending teacher and I think you're the one who's supposed to train me." Aang called back. Before he could catch up to her, she opened a hole in the wall and closed it behind her.

* * *

 **-Next Day-**

They were all walking through the town again, Aang back in his usual clothes. They were all trying to figure out how they would find the girl Aang was now certain needed to be his teacher. Well, most of them were.

"I have to admit, now I'm glad I bought the bag, it matches the belt perfectly!" Sokka said, indicating the belt Aang had won the night before and smiling wider than usual.

"That is just so great to know." Katara said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Okay, so I figure that if we want to find the Blind Bandit, we need to look for others who might know her, maybe other Earth Benders?" Aang said, completely ignoring Sokka, "Well then the Earth Bending Academy might be a good place to start." Kai suggested in an off hand sort of voice, even though he too wanted to know more about the girl.

"Can't hurt to try." Aang shrugged, leading the way over to the school. As they entered the courtyard, they found the two boys from the other day punching into sand in vases before each of them.

"Oh great, it's you again." One of them said before Katara glared at them and they backed up in fear, "Yeah I thought so." She said smirking.

"Hey, you're the kid from last night, the one who beat The Blind Bandit!" The other kid said, looking to Aang.

"Yeah, but now I need to find her and talk to her, do you guys know where she lives?" Aang asked.

"Nope, The Blind Bandit is a mystery, she shows up to fight and then disappears." The other boy said in a tone of reverence.

Aang looked disappointed so Katara stepped up, "Let me take care of this. Your not telling us everything!" She said, glaring coldly at them and making them flinch away again, "No, I swear that's all anyone knows for sure, no one knows where she lives or who she is." He said, hiding behind his friend.

"Hmm, well that bits a dead end, anything else you remember from the vision, Aang?" Kai asked. Aang thought back and remembered how the girl in his vision had looked and that she had been accompanied by a flying boar.

"We are asking about the wrong person, well sort of, the girl in my vision wore a white dress and had a pet flying boar. Know anybody like that?" Aang asked.

"Well, the flying boar is the symbol of the Bei Fong family, they're the richest people in town, maybe even in the whole world." One boy said and Kai privately disagreed with that statement, but he kept quiet for now as the other boy spoke, "But they don't have a daughter."

"The flying boar is good enough for me, come on, let's check it out!" Aang said, walking away as Katara and the others followed. Kai heard one of them say, "Yeah, you better leave!" under his breath. Deciding to have a little fun, he snapped his fingers and their pants caught fire, causing them to run away screaming for the nearest river.

 _'Ember sparks, second best trick I ever learned.'_ Kai thought, smirking as he followed the others.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to find the Bei Fong residence. Their home was a large estate just outside the town with a tall wall built around it. Seeing that the front gate was guarded, they decided to take the indirect approach and climbed the wall into a courtyard with a garden, a pond, and a stone bench.

They didn't make it far though. Before they took three steps, they were launched into the air and landed on some nearby flower bushes. Looking up from where he landed, Aang was met with the girl looking down at him with annoyance.

"What are you doing here, Twinkle Toes?" She asked.

"How did you know it was me?" Aang asked curiously.

"Don't answer to 'Twinkle Toes', it's not manly." Sokka complained.

"Oh yeah, certainly less manly than the man with the matching belt and bag." Kai said sarcastically as they all got out of the bushes.

"You shouldn't be here, leave now." The girl ordered firmly.

"Look, you don't understand." Aang said, "See, this mad king told me I needed to find an Earthbending teacher and then I saw this vision in a magic swamp and-"

"What Aang's trying to say," Kai cut him off, hearing how unbelievable the story sounded, "He's the Avatar, and he needs to find an Earthbender to teach him and we think you're that teacher."

"Well look somewhere else." The girl retorted.

"Look, you're the only one who can help us. We all need to do our part to win this war, will you do yours?" Katara asked. The girl was silent for a few seconds before turning around.

"Guards! Help, please!" She cried out in a scared voice. Panicking, they all ran back over the wall they came over. They managed to slip over the wall before the guards showed up.

"What's wrong, Toph?" One guard asked.

"I don't know. I heard a noise and I got scared." She said in a timid voice, sounding like a scared puppy.

"You know your father doesn't like you wandering the grounds alone, Toph." The other guard said before leading her back to the house.

Aang and the others watched from the roof, "Well, she's good." Kai admitted.

"I have an idea." Aang said, jumping down, "Well now that just worries me." Kai said as they followed him down.

* * *

 **-With Toph-**

Toph sat in a room in front of her parents with Master Yu beside her. She could "see" The concern on their faces as they spoke to her supposed Earth Bending teacher, "I am pleased to hear that Toph's private lessons are going well, I just want to make sure she isn't doing anything too difficult or dangerous." Her father, Lao, said.

"Absolutely not, I am keeping her at the beginner's level, basic forms and breathing exercises only." Yu said.

"Very good then." Lao said as Toph's glare went either unnoticed or ignored, she honestly couldn't tell. Just then, one of the servants walked in, his head bowed and looking extremely nervous.

"Excuse me sir, but you have a visitor." The man said.

"Who thinks they are so important that they can just come to my home unannounced!?" Her father asked in his most important and imposing voice.

"The Avatar, sir." The man said and Toph's eyes widened and she blew some hair out of her face in irritation as Lao said, "Tell them that we will be right out and invite he and any of his friends for dinner please."

* * *

Aang and the others joined the Bei Fongs in their dining room for a great meal. Kai had a wide grin as it had been a few weeks since he had eaten food of such quality.

'Perks of being rich.' He thought to himself.

"So, Avatar Aang, when do you think you will be able to end the war?" Lao asked after taking a sip of tea.

"Well I hoped to do it by the end of summer, but I'll need to find someone to teach me Earth bending first." He answered, looking at Toph with a knowing smirk. Toph just sat in her chair with an annoyed look.

"Well if you're looking for a teacher, Master Yu could help. He's the finest earthbender in the land." Toph's mother said, gesturing toward Master Yu.

"Actually ma'am, we were thinking of asking your daughter." Kai said politely, gesturing towards Toph.

"My daughter?! But she's weak and as blind as a bat!" Lao said.

"Ah but a bat can navigate the darkest of caves on its own while a man needs the help of a torch or light stone." Kai retorted.

"What are you implying?" Lao asked angrily.

"That maybe just because someone has a disability that they're not helpless!" Kai said, raising his voice.

Toph was surprised, no one had ever really stood up for her against her father. She herself had even kept what she could really do and how she really was secret and yet this boy was challenging her father, 'Interesting.' She thought to herself.

"Believe me, she's better than you or Master Yu give her any credit for, you just don't know it." Kai said, keeping his temper just barely in check so he didn't light anyone or anything up, it wouldn't help. Master Yu cleared his throat before Kai could continue however.

"Speaking as her Earth Bending tutor, I can say that I know her very well and Toph is still learning the basics." He said in a calm tone that Kai, having grown up around men similar to Yu, could tell held a bit of condescension towards him for calling the master's own talents and judgement into question.

"Exactly, and sad as I am to admit it, because of her blindness I don't think she will ever be a true master." Lao added in a much similar tone as Yu's. Kai's eyes narrowed and Toph felt the earth beneath him heat up along with the rest of his body.

He was getting ready to speak and much as Toph appreciated all he had said, she decided it was best for this conversation to stop, she would decide when it was time to be honest with her parents. So, before he could, she subtly shifted the earth beneath him and sent him face first into his soup dish.

He sat up and glanced at her and saw her shake her head almost imperceptibly, and sighed, "Forgive me sir, it must be lack of sleep getting to me, I meant no disrespect." He said, bowing his head as the others just looked confused.

"Well, I think we should move to the family room for desert, shall we?" Miss Bei Fong said, trying to alleviate some of the awkwardness the argument had caused.

* * *

They all gathered in the family room and were served with a simple white cake. After they had finished, Aang, Katara, and Sokka began a conversation with the Bei Fongs and Master Yu about their travels. While they were talking, Toph signaled Kai to follow her outside. When they got outside, they walked around the courtyard that he and the others snuck into earlier that afternoon. The night air was cool and he could hear many nocturnal creatures chirping and making various other noises. After a few moments of silence, Toph spoke up.

"That was really something back there, you know?" Toph said.

"What was?" Kai asked.

"You standing up to my father like that. You basically said all I ever wanted to and you weren't afraid to do it." Toph said with a grin.

"It was nothing, I've dealt with people like him before." Kai said, remembering debates he's had with his teachers.

"Yeah well, thanks anyway." Toph replied.

"No problem." Kai said with a grin.

"My parents always baby me, always keeping me locked up and on guard 24/7. They think I'm totally helpless when I can take care of myself," Toph explained,"If they'd just give me a chance, I could show them what I'm capable of."

Kai looked down at Toph and couldn't help but smile a bit. Apart from a few details, he and Toph practically lived the same lives. They both came from rich families, they were locked up most of their lives, and their parents think little of them. It was both happy and sad to know that there was another like him in the world.

"What?" She asked, 'looking' over to him, able to tell he was smiling a little.

"Nothing, it's just you and I have a lot in common is all. You know, you are an amazing Earth Bender, Toph, how do you do it if you can't see?" He asked and it was Toph's turn to smile.

"Even though I was born blind, I haven't had a problem seeing for a while. I 'see' with Earth Bending, it's like being able to see with my feet. I feel the vibrations in the Earth and it lets me see where everything around me is, you, that tree, and even those ants." She said, pointing to an ant hill that Kai had to squint to see.

"That's incredible!" He said, impressed even more than he was letting on.

"Thanks, but my parents don't understand, no one else really has before you. They all see me as helpless." She sighed.

"So, that's why you became the Blind Bandit then? To be who you really are for once?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"So, then why stay here where you aren't happy?" Kai asked, even though he realized it was slightly hypocritical of him to say, given the fact he himself hadn't simply run off under similar circumstances. The difference here was he had Azula he could be himself around while at home, Toph had to wear her mask of how others perceived her at all times.

"They're my parents, and this is all I have ever really known, where else am I supposed to go?" Toph asked.

"Why not come with the group?" Kai asked, and here he felt conflicted. On the one hand, he knew that strategy said he should be trying to convince her not to go with Aang, making it harder for the Avatar to learn Earth Bending and thus, less of a problem down the line, but on the other, he remembered how happy he had been since being away from home.

Even while he was captured, he still got to experience things he wouldn't have at home, and that made him happy, and he wanted Toph to get to experience that as well, _'What's wrong with me?'_ He thought as Toph spoke.

"Yeah, you all get to go wherever you want, no one telling you what to do or how to act, that's the life, but it's not my life." She said sadly.

Kai opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly Toph's head shot to the right then left, "We're being ambushed!" She said, grabbing his hand and making a run to get back to the house only for them to be cut off by a man burrowing up from under them and blocking their path, Kai recognized him as one of the benders from ER6.

As he and Toph took their stances, ready to fight only for two metal creates to be dropped on them from above, trapping them inside.

Punching the metal prison, only to reel back with a bruised knuckle, Kai looked out the bars on the box to see them being surrounded by the fighters from Earth Rumble 6 with Xin Fu and The Boulder standing in front of their prisons.

"You kids owe me a lot of money." He growled as Big Bad Hippo secured the two boxes and picked them up and carried them off.

* * *

When they stopped, Kai found that they were back in the Earth Rumble stadium. Xin Fu walked up to their cages and looked inside and his eyes grew angry when he looked into Kai's cage.

"You stupid imbeciles! You grabbed the wrong kid!" He yelled at the fighters,"You were supposed to grab the bald one that beat her in the fight!"

"Sorry, boss, we didn't have time to see who we were grabbing." The skinny frog man said meekly.

"What we do now?" Hippo asked, scratching his head.

"We'll keep him and hold him for ransom, surely there's someone who'd pay good money for him." Xin Fu reasoned,"In the meantime, chain 'em up." He said.

"Yes, sir." Fire Nation Man said, saluting him as he and Hippo attached chains to the tops of the crates and suspended them above the arena.

"Well this stinks." Toph grumbled.

"Yeah it does, especially since we are only being used as bait. Well, at least partially." Kai said, gazing down at the assembly of Earth Benders.

"Sorry for getting you dragged into this." Toph said.

"Meh, don't worry about it. For me it was just exchanging one set of captors for another," He shrugged, leaning against the side of his cell.

"What do you mean by that?" Toph asked.

"I'll explain more when we're out of here." Kai said and Toph nodded, glaring down at the other Earth Benders.

* * *

 **-At The Bei Fong Home-**

Katara and the others had gone out after they finally noticed Toph and Kai were missing and had headed out into the courtyard, only to find two small craters and in the center of them a sword holding a note. Sokka took it and read.

"We have your daughter, if you want her back, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena. Signed, Xin Fu and The Boulder. I don't believe it. I have The Boulders autograph!" He said, holding up the note.

* * *

 **-Arena, half an hour later-**

Toph and Kai were still suspended in their metal sarcophagi. Kai was maintaining a cool composure while Toph shook her bars in frustration.

"Think you're so tough? Why don't you lower me down so I can smack that grin off your face!" She threatened, pointing at Xin Fu on the ground.

"I'm not smiling." He deadpanned. At that moment, the gang, Toph's father, and Master Yu walked through the arena entrance and onto the arena, carrying a bag of gold pieces.

"Here's your money, just take it and give me my daughter back." Lao said, placing the bag on the ground and Master Yu kicked the ground, sending it sliding into Xin Fu's feet. Once he inspected the contents of the bag he signaled one of the fighters to lower the cage holding Toph. Once she was out, she walked over to her father and they began to walk away.

"What about Kai?" Sokka asked firmly.

"Oh, we're going to keep him. I'm sure the Fire Nation would pay handsomely to have their prince back." He said, holding up a missing person poster with an illustration of Kai on it.

 _'Wow, Azula's actually looking for me.'_ Kai thought, happy that his sister cared that much.

Toph's, Lao's, and Yu's eyes widened at hearing that the boy with the Avatar was a Fire Bender. More surprising was he was the prince of the Fire Nation.

"Hey you can't do that! We had that idea first." Sokka grumbled and Kai's words from earlier made sense to Toph as her father and Yu began to walk away once again.

"Well too bad, now get out of my ring!" Xin Fu said. The GAang got ready to fight, but realized that they were out numbered seven Earth Benders to the three of them. If they were going to get Kai back they were going to need help. Katara turned and ran over to the hall that Toph was in, followed by the others.

"Toph, wait. Please, there's too many of them, we need an Earth Bender." Katara said.

"We need you!" Aang said simply.

Lao glared at them, "This again!? I told you, my daughter is blind. She is blind, and tiny, and helpless, and fragile! She can't help you!" Toph wrenched her hand away from him, his comments and the fact that Kai was the only person who really understood her made her next action clear.

"Yes I can." She said, walking back to the arena as her father and Yu were made to sit in the stand's front row. She wanted to make sure they saw.

As the other Earth Benders were leaving, Toph created a large barrier in front of them, blocking the way, "Let him go! I beat you all once before and I'll do it again!" Toph challenged.

"The Boulder takes issue to that comment!" He said as Hippo threw Kai's container down, "Okay, so that's the one I am going to hurt when I get out of here." Kai grumbled from within, rubbing his head.

The other seven benders charged Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Aang and as they all got ready to strike, Toph flung out her arms, "Wait! They're mine!" She said smirking, as she stomped on the ground and held her arms out and the entire ring began to shake. She stomped again and created a giant rock wall that knocked all of the other Earth Benders back and created a large dust cloud as they landed.

Toph calmly walked into the cloud and up in the stands her father paled.

As Toph walked through the dust cloud, she sensed Fire Nation Man behind her and immediately hit him with an earth pillar to his gut, sending him flying into the stands next to Lao and Yu.

The frog man was hopping and crawling along the stage floor, trying to navigate the cloud until he spotted Toph in front of him. In an attempt to avoid her sonar sight, he lifted himself into the air with a couple of palm-sized rocks only for Toph to grab the rocks and fling them behind her. Before he had time to react, he was launched out of the ring and into the stands by an earth pillar.

The mustached mole man charged at Toph from underground but was struck out of the ring just as he erupted from the ground.  
The Boulder and Hippo were charging at Toph and Toph could hear the swinging man coming at her from the air. She used her Earth Bending and rotated center stage slightly clockwise. Just as the two fighters were on top of her they were rammed by the swinging man by accident.

Meanwhile, Aang and the others were trying to break the lock on Kai's cage. They finally managed to get the thing open and Kai slid out. He was about to join the fight but when he saw how well Toph was doing on her own he just sat down on his metal prison and looked on with interest.

It was just Toph and Xin Fu left in the ring. He cracked his neck and faced her and she simply spat on the ground beside her as they circled each other slowly, and then he moved, summoning up six large stones and launching them at her at high speeds and at different angles. Toph summoned up a large pyramid-shaped earth shield around her.

As the last bit of rock bounced off her shield, she launched half of it at Xin Fu, who just barely managed to jump and spin in the air, digging one hand into the earth and launching a large rock ball at her. Toph smiled before sidestepping it like it was not even an issue as it flew inches from her face, before she sent the other half of her earth shield at Xin Fu, who looked surprised as it hit him in the chest and sent him flying from the ring and slamming right between her father and Master Yu.

"I never knew, your daughter's amazing! She's the greatest Earth Bender I've ever seen!" Yu said, smiling as Toph and the others celebrated her victory.

-At The Bei Fong Home-  
The GAang, Kai, and Toph had gathered in one of the larger rooms. Toph stood in the center while the others sat behind her, though Kai was now being much more closely watched by guards as he watched Toph speak.

"Dad, I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way, but the obedient little blind girl that you think I am just isn't me. I love fighting. I love being an Earthbender, and I'm really, really good at it. I know I've kept my life a secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. I know you've been doing it to protect me, but I'm 14 years old, and I've never had a real friend. So, now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me." Toph said calmly

"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. In fact, it's made me realize something." Lao said.

"It has?" Toph asked carefully.

"Yes. I've let you have far too much freedom. From now on, you will be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day." He said, shocking them all.

"But that's not fair!" Toph raised her voice.

"No 'buts'. Now go to your room." Lao said, pointing to the room's entrance and she walked away angrily, "Avatar Aang, while honored by your visit, I must ask you to leave my home and take that firebender with you." Lao said, pointing an accusing finger at Kai.

The GAang left the Bei Fong estate sad and disappointed. Aang had finally found his ideal teacher and she was now a prisoner in her own home. Kai fumed at Lao's attitude towards his daughter. Even though she proved she could handle herself he still treats her like she's helpless. As they continued towards where they stashed Appa, an idea came to him.

He started to slow his pace down so he would be behind the group. When he was far enough away, he started running back the way he came.

* * *

 **-Bei Fong Home-**

Toph sat in her room with tears in her eyes. She finally had friends and her father sent them away. As she silently wept to herself, she heard a very light tap on her bedroom window (Which were barred for extra security).

Going over to it, she opened it slightly and whispered,"Who's there?"

"It's me." Kai's voice whispered softly.

"Kai? What are you doing here?" Toph asked in amazement.

"Rescuing you. Now come on, get some stuff together." He whispered in a hurried tone. Toph smiled as she gathered some spare clothes in a small bag and went back over to the window.

"You might wanna stand back." Kai warned. Toph did so but was confused as to what his plan was. Her question was soon answered. Kai ignited a small flame in his hand. Focusing his power, he intensified the flame while still maintaining its small size. He then aimed the flame at the bars and started to cut through them like a welding torch.

After cutting two bars loose, he slipped Toph through and guided her through the courtyard and over the wall.

* * *

Aang and Katara were staring down at the Bei Fong grounds sadly, Sokka meanwhile was polishing the Earth Rumble belt on his waist as he sat on Appa's saddle.

"Don't worry Aang, we'll find you another teacher, there are plenty of amazing Earthbenders out there." She said, patting his back.

"Not like her." Aang sighed as he leaped up onto Appa, and then Sokka noticed, "Uh, guys, where's Kai?"

Aang and Katara's eyes went wide at his question as they stared around. Sure enough, Kai had vanished, "Oh come on, after all that Toph did to get him back for us he got away!? I knew we should have tied him up!" Sokka said his head slumped.

"Maybe we can still find him if we spilt up and search." Katara started before they all heard panting breaths and looking over saw Kai running towards them, with Toph by his side.

"Toph? Kai? I mean what's...could someone explain please?" Aang asked.

"Kai came back and spoke to my dad with me, we changed his mind and he said I'm free to travel the world." Toph said. She and Kai had decided on the way back that the truth was better left for a time when they were far enough away that it wouldn't really matter.

Katara and Sokka looked at each other surprised and then they both smiled, "Well then, we better hurry up before your dad changes his mind again." Sokka said.

"Good idea." They both said, smiling.

"You're going to be a great teacher, Toph." Aang said.

"Yeah, speaking of which, come down here real quick, I want to show you something." Toph said.

"Okay!" Aang said, jumping down only to be met with a stone pillar to the chest that sent him flying into a nearby tree, "There, now we're even. Oh, and I'll take the belt back." Toph said, holding out her hand to Sokka, who took the belt and simply dropped it off of Appa where it hit Toph on the head knocking her down.

"Oops, Sorry." Sokka said with a nervous chuckle as Aang finally fell out of the tree.

 _'Things just keep getting odder.'_ Kai thought, helping Toph up, but smiling all the same.

* * *

 **-Bei Fong Home, Next Day-**

Lao sat in front of Master Yu and Xin Fu in the main room. While there was some aggression in the air, it was not aimed towards Xin.

"While I am aware that you two have your differences, I know that you both have a common interest." Lao said before placing a box on the table between them and opening it, revealing hundreds of gold coins.

"I want you two to work together, The Avatar has kidnapped my daughter and I want you to bring her back." Lao ordered. Before the two earthbenders could answer, a servant walked in quite nervously.

"Master Bei Fong, you have a visitor." He said.

"Who is it this time?" He asked irritably.

"*gulp* The princess of the Fire Nation." he servant said meekly. The three men's eyes widened and ran to the front gate with a group of guards. When they arrived, they found Azula standing between Mai and Ty Lee with her hands behind her back in an authoritative manner.

"I shall only ask this once and I shall use small words so that you may understand: Where. Is. My. Brother?" She ordered.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah, you thought we forgot Azula huh? Nope. So that's it for this chapter, we hope you liked it leave a review if you wish, and we'll see you next chapter!**


	6. Battles

**A/N: Welcome to the longest chapter of Magma so far! This was a fun one and we hope you like it. Thanks to MaxGentlman 1 my friend, beta, and co-author.**

 **Disclaimer: We still don't own Avatar, because if we did Kai would be a character and not an OC.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Kai and the others were gathered in a forest around a bright campfire, cooking the fish Sokka had caught. There was a small argument between Katara and Toph about helping out around the camp but they put that aside for the time being.

"I'm bored, do you guys have any stories to tell or something?" Toph asked hopefully, 'looking' around at them.

"Well, we could tell some stories about our travels." Katara said, shrugging.

"Actually I want to know more about Kai." Aang said, causing them all to look at the Fire Prince expectantly, "What do you want from me?" He asked, looking around at all of them.

"Oh come on, share a little. I'm sure we all wouldn't mind knowing a bit about you." Katara said.

"Trust me, my life was nothing special." Kai said.

"Come on, Hot Foot, you being a prince I'm sure you had a good life. Better than mine I bet." Toph said.

Kai just looked at Toph and then at the others around the fire. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Fine, but I'm not much of a storyteller, that was more my uncle's specialty. Now, how did he do them?" He asked himself, trying to remember where to start,"To every story, there is a beginning, a middle, and an end. Let's start somewhere in the middle." He said, recalling his life's story.

* * *

 **-Eight Years Ago-**

Kai sat in one of the courtyards of the Fire Nation palace under the shade of a large tree, watching his sister and Ty Lee attempt cartwheels. Azula's attempt went pretty well but she ended up falling over. Ty Lee executed it perfectly but was pushed over by Azula out of jealousy.

"Azula!" Ty Lee said, annoyed. Azula and Kai laughed playfully at this when they noticed Zuko walking by with their mother. While looking, they noticed that Mai was blushing at the sight of him and a sly grin came to Azula's lips.

"Watch this!" She whispered to Ty Lee, who giggled as Azula ran over to their mother and brother, "Mom, can you make Zuko play with us? We need equal teams to play a game and I already made Kai the judge." She said.

"I am not cartwheeling!" Zuko said indignantly.

"You won't have to! Cartwheeling isn't a game, dumb-dumb." She muttered.

"Well, whatever, I don't want to play with you anyway." He said.

"You know we are your brother and sister, it's important for us to spend time together, don't you think so mom?" Azula asked, putting on her best cute pleading expression.

"Yes darling, I think it's a good idea to play with your siblings. Go on, you only have to for a little while." Their mother said, walking way and Zuko sighed, walking over to join them.

"Okay, so here's the game: What you do is try to knock the apple off the other person's head." She said, placing the apple on Mai's head as she stood near the fountain.

"Like this!" She said, firing a blast that lit the apple ablaze. Zuko ran forward, reaching out for the apple, but he tripped and he and Mai fell into the water as Azula, Kai, and Ty Lee all laughed playfully, "See? I told you it would work!" Azula said.

"Aw, look at them, they're so cute together." Ty Lee said as they both stood up and Zuko stomped away while Mai glared at the other three, "You three are such, ugh!" She huffed, folding her arms as their mother came out.

"Good news, your Uncle Iroh has sent us a letter from the war front. Why are you soaking wet?" She said, a bit confused.

"Girls are crazy!" Zuko huffed, walking into the palace.

"Hey, who're you calling a girl?!" Kai called back, insulted.

The three of them gathered around their mother as she read them the letter from their uncle.

"... If the city is as magnificent as its wall, Ba Sing Se must be something to behold. I hope you all may see it some day, if we don't burn it to the ground first." The three laughed at the joke before their mother read on,"Until then, enjoy these gifts. For Zuko: a pearl dagger from the general who surrendered when we broke through the outer wall. Note the inscription and the superior craftsmanship."

Zuko unsheathed the dagger from its scabbard and looked at the words carved into one side of the blade,"Never give up without a fight." He read.

"For Kai: a copy of the Encyclopedia Desertum: a detailed history of the Earth Kingdom and its provinces." She continued.

Kai was given a large, leather-bound book with the Earth Kingdom insignia on the cover, "This will keep me busy for a while." Kai said with a chuckle as he opened the book and started reading.

"And for Azula: A new friend. She wears the latest fashion for Earth Kingdom girls." Their mother finished.

Azula was given a doll with a green dress and its hair done up in a large bun. Azula just gave a sound of disgust at her gift.

"So, if Uncle doesn't make it back from war then father would be next in line for Fire Lord, right?" Azula asked casually, "I think so." Kai shrugged, absorbed in his book as Zuko swung his new dagger around.

"Azula, we don't speak that way, it would be awful if Uncle Iroh did not return, and besides, Fire Lord Azulon is a picture of health." Their mother said seriously.

"Yeah, I mean how would you like it if cousin Lu Ten wanted dad to die?" Zuko asked, glaring at her.

"I still think our dad would make a much better Fire Lord than his royal tea loving kookiness." Azula said, holding the doll out and squeezing the chest as she lit the head on fire with her bending.

* * *

 **-Present Day-**

"Whoa, whoa, hold on! So your sister is heartless and insane!?" Sokka asked, interrupting the story only to have to dodge a small fireball Kai tossed at him.

"She isn't either of those things! Azula is just different and proud!" Kai said defensively and Katara recognized it as the same way she defended Sokka when he was insulted, at least when he didn't deserve it.

"Now, where was I?" Kai asked, scratching his chin in thought.

"Your sister lit her doll on fire." Toph said casually.

"Ah, of course." Kai said, recomposing himself.

* * *

 **-Eight Years Ago-**

Azula, Kai, and Zuko were all playing in the courtyard as their mother sat by the turtle-duck pond when a servant walked up to her and delivered a letter. As she read it, her face grew to one of sadness. The three children stopped when they noticed her expression.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Kai asked.

"Iroh has lost his son. Your cousin, Lu Ten, did not survive the battle." She said sadly, tears dripping down her cheeks. Kai and Zuko were shocked at the news while Azula had a face of indifference.

* * *

 **-Later That Evening-**

Kai, Azula, and Zuko were gathered in a room. Zuko was busy pretend fighting with his dagger as Azula sat on a chair while Kai was against the wall, reading. Zuko pretended to be stabbed and fell to the ground dramatically.

"You spend all your time playing with knives. You're not even good." Azula said condescendingly.

"How about you put an apple on your head and we'll see how good I am!" Zuko shot back.

"By the way, Uncle's coming home." Azula said, getting up out of her seat and stepping up to Zuko.

"So, does that mean we won the war?" Zuko asked confused, "No, we didn't." Kai said, still reading, although his voice held a little hint of sadness to it.

"So, what does that mean?" Zuko asked.

"It means Uncle's a quitter and a loser!" Azula said simply, spinning herself around a pillar as she spoke with a casual ease as Zuko glared defiantly at her, "You don't know what you're talking about! Uncle is not a quitter!" Zuko said, glaring at her.

"Oh yes he is, he found out his son died and he just fell apart. A real general would stay and burn Ba Sing Se to the ground, not lose the battle and come home crying." She said in a tone of casual disgust.

"How do you know what he should do!? He's probably just sad his only son is gone forever." Zuko said sadly, "He makes a good point, even the best people can be driven mad by grief." Kai said, putting his book down as their mother came into the room where they were gathered before Azula could respond.

"Your father has requested an audience with Fire Lord Azulon; best clothes, all of you." She said and Kai and Zuko took off, but Kai stopped when he saw Azula was just strolling towards them, "Fire Lord Azulan? Can't you just call him Grandfather? I mean he's not exactly the powerful Fire Lord he used to be. Someone'll probably end up taking his place soon." She sighed.

"Young Lady! Not another word!" Her mother said and Azula sighed again, "Come on Kai, I suppose we need to change." She said and Kai nodded and followed her out, but he still heard his mother say, "What is wrong with that girl?"

-Later on in the Fire Lord's Thrown Room-  
The whole family sat kneeling before Fire Lord Azulon as Ozai asked the children mostly questions, "And how was it your Great Grandfather Sozin managed to win the Battle of Han Twee?" He asked all of them and Zuko started first.

"Great Grandfather won because..." Zuko said, straining to remember the specifics and Azula decided to take over.

"Because even though his army was outnumbered, he cleverly calculated his advantages..." Azula started and Kai picked up her sentence midway through, as if they spoke like this often, which lately they did, "The enemy was downwind and there was a drought, meaning their defenses burnt to a crisp in minutes, about ten if his personal account is to be believed."

"Correct, excellent both of you. Now, Azula, would you care to demonstrate the new moves you demonstrated to me?" He asked.

Azula nodded her head before standing up. She bowed to her grandfather and began to go through a series of Firebending stances, firing of a few bursts of fire before finishing with a jump kick in the Fire Lord's direction. Ozai grinned very subtly at her performance as she bowed and retook her seat.

"Excellent, like I said, a natural prodigy, like her grandfather for whom she is named." He said proudly. Seeing his father's approval and his jealousy of Azula growing inside of him, Zuko stood up.

"I would like to demonstrate what I have learned if I may." He asked the Fire Lord, earning a frown from his father.

Zuko began to mimic the moves that Azula had performed but tripped after loosing his footing on one of the stances. His father and grandfather glared at his performance. Not giving up, Zuko tried to continue the showcase and tried doing a jump kick as well only to fall onto his bottom with a look of humiliation. Their mother got up and ran to Zuko and helped him up.

"I've failed." He said sadly.

"No, I loved watching you. That's who you are, Zuko, someone who never gives up without a fight." His mother said comfortingly.

"Prince Ozai, why do you waste my time with this pomp?" Fire Lord Azulon asked in a commanding voice, "Just tell me what you want, everyone else just go." He ordered, waving the others off while Ozai stayed behind.

As they left, Azula took a hand of each of her brothers and dragged them behind one of the tapestries on the wall, "What are you..." Zuko started before Azula shushed him and all three of them peaked out to observe the conversation.

Ozai spoke very carefully, but still neutral, "Father, you must have realized as I have that with Lu Ten gone, Iroh's bloodline has ended. After his son's death, my brother abandoned the siege of Ba Sing Se, and who knows when he will return home? I however, am here father, and all three of my children are alive."

"Say what it is you want!" Azulon demanded lowly.

"Father, revoke Iroh's birthright. I am your humble servant, here to serve you and our nation. Use me." Ozai said simply.

"You dare suggest I betray Iroh, my first born, directly after the demise of his only beloved son!?" Azulon said, the fire around him beginning to rise with his temper, "I think Iroh has suffered enough, but you, your punishment has scarcely begun!" He said as the light of the fire rose to brighten the whole room. Zuko bolted and Kai felt uneasy and a bit scared until Azula placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay Kai, father would never hurt you... Zuzu though..." She trailed off as they both stared at the two adults still there.

* * *

 **-Present-**

"Wow, Zuko had a pretty hard life." Aang said, looking into the fire sadly.

"Yeah, he didn't have that many people who stood up for him. To this day I wish I had helped him during that demonstration. I don't know what I could've done, just anything to take pressure off him." Kai said.

"You know what they say: Hindsight is 20:20. No offense, Toph." Sokka said.

"I'm used to it." Toph replied.

"So what happened next?" Katara asked, invested in the story. Kai looked into the fire as he continued.

"Well, that's where things get a little more confusing."

* * *

 **-Eight Years Ago, Zuko's room-**

Zuko was resting, still on edge from what he had seen earlier, and then his door swung open and he saw Azula standing against the door frame, her arms folded. He could see Kai heading towards his own room, "Dad's going to kill you." She said in a sing song voice before turning to look him in the eye, "No really, he is." She said.

"Ha ha, Azula, nice try." Zuko said sarcastically.

"Fine, don't believe me, but it's true. I heard everything, Grandfather said dad's punishment should fit his crime," She said before dropping her voice in a passable imitation of Azulon's, "You must know the pain of loosing a first born son, by sacrificing your own!" She said, sitting on the edge of Zuko's bed.

"Liar!" Zuko declared.

"I'm just trying to look out for you, for your own good. I know, maybe you could find a nice Earth Kingdom family to adopt you." She said.

"Liar! Dad would never do that to me!" Zuko said defiantly.

"Your father would never do what to you? What's going on here?" Their mother asked, appearing in the doorway with Kai now standing off to the side of her.

"I don't know." Azula said innocently.

"It's time you and I had a talk." Their mother said sternly, taking Azula's hand and walking out of the room. Kai and Zuko exchanged glances before Kai left for his room. He could hear Zuko repeating the words "Azula always lies" to himself.

* * *

 **-Present-**

"Your grandfather didn't really say that, did he?" Katara asked, shocked.

"I don't really remember, that day is foggy to me for some reason. I can't remember the details." Kai said, rubbing his head, trying to remember.

"Your family's nuts. Except your mom, she sounded pretty nice." Sokka said, taking a bite out of his fish on a stick.

"Anyway, what happened next?" Aang asked. Kai sighed again as the memory came back.

* * *

 **-Eight Years Ago-**

Kai lay in his bed, sound asleep when he was awoken by a voice.

"Kai. Kai wake up." The feminine voice said softly. Kai stirred from his slumber and found his mother sitting over him.

"Mom? What's going on?" Kai asked groggily.

"I can't tell you exactly, but just know that I love you and I care for you and Zuko deeply. Take care of your brother." She said softly and somberly. Before Kai could ask what she was talking about, she got up and walked out of his room before he fell back to sleep.

The next morning, Kai woke up drowsy, but with a vague memory of what his mother had said the night before. Something about it made him worry, so he quickly hopped out of bed and went searching the castle for her, "Mom! Mom!" He called out, walking through the halls and running across Azula, who was playing with Zuko's knife.

"Azula!" He said, catching her off guard, but making her smile when she saw it was him as he hugged her good morning, "Do you know where mom is, I can't find her." He said, staring up into his sister's eyes.

For a second, she hesitated. As if trying to think of what to say before they both heard running footsteps. Turning towards the noise, they saw Zuko coming towards them, looking worried. Azula gently let Kai go and turned to face Zuko as he spoke, "Hey, where's mom?" Zuko asked.

"No one knows, oh and last night, Grandpa passed away." She said in a less gloating manner than she would have if Kai weren't there to hear as well.

"That's not funny Azula, you're sick and I want my knife back!" He said, making a grab for it only for Azula to slide out of his reach with a practiced ease, "Who's going to make me give it back? Mom?" She asked, tilting her head at him and smirking just a little as he snatched the knife and ran out towards where their father was.

"Azula, is all that true?" Kai asked, staring at her with wide, sad eyes. She stared at the one person who was easily her favorite and in a rare moment for Azula, she suddenly felt bad for taunting Zuko, though that had a lot more to do with the fact that she had hurt Kai's feelings unintentionally.

She stared down at the six year old boy and hugged him, "Yes Kai, it's true. I'm sorry, but no one knows what happened last night." She said, gently patting his back as he held onto her tightly, "Will she be back?" Kai asked.

"I'm not sure really, but I promise you, you'll always have me. You and I stick together, no one will hurt you so long as I'm here." She said and she meant every word.

"Okay, and I'll be there for you too." He said. Though she could still feel his tears where his eyes were, she did smile softly at that.

* * *

 **-Present-**

"After that, we had my grandfather's funeral and my father was crowned Fire Lord." Kai finished his story.

The group looked at him with sadness. They felt empathy for the young prince now that they knew how hard his life was. Katara put a comforting hand on Kai's shoulder.

"I'm really sorry, Kai." She said softly.

"Don't worry, I got over it a long time ago." He said, lying through his teeth. While it was true that he had pushed the memories to the back of his mind, he still felt the pain that the event caused him. It was because of that day that he became a more reserved person, only talking when need be and keeping a level headed attitude.

"A few years later, Zuko was banished. I can still hear his screams when father gave him that scar." He said sadly.

The group just kept silent after the story, processing the tale that they were told. The group didn't talk for the rest of the night, only saying "Good night" before turning in. Kai stayed awake, lost in his thoughts as he watched the fire die out. His eyes began to feel heavy as he watched the last of the embers glow.

He was beginning to fall asleep when he heard a noise behind him. Turning around, he found it was Toph, still awake.

"Toph? What are you doing still up?" He asked, trying to keep his voice level, which was harder than usual as she approached and sat down beside him.

"I couldn't sleep, I was just thinking about what you said in your story, and I know you aren't as over it as you say you are. I can feel your pulse. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what you went through." She said.

Kai stared at her for a moment, not knowing what to say, and then to her surprise, he hugged her.

"Thank you Toph, I really appreciate it." He said. He was about to let go but he was surprised when she hugged him back.

"It's no big deal, I know what it's like to have things you just want to forget, no matter how much they hurt you. Just don't tell the others I got all touchy feely." She said, smiling as they let each other go.

"You got a deal." Kai said with a smile.

Saying their good nights, Kai went to his sleeping bag and stared up at the stars before drifting to sleep, a smile creeping to his face as he closed his eyes.

However, he hadn't been asleep very long at all when Toph woke him and the others by shouting out, "Something is headed toward us, and it's huge." She said.

"What is it?" Aang asked, yawning a little.

"I'm not sure, it feels like an avalanche, but also not an avalanche." Toph said, feeling the ground with her hand to be sure, "Your powers of perception are frightening." Sokka said sarcastically only for Kai to hit him over the head.

"Do you think that we should leave?" Katara asked, looking around at the others.

"Better safe than sorry." Aang said and Sokka nodded his approval, so they hauled everything up onto Appa, well everyone but Toph did, and moments later they were all flying off into the night, more than a little drowsy.

"What is that?" Katara asked. Turning around, the group saw a pillar of smoke rising in the distance and approaching them.

"I don't think I want to find out." Sokka said.

* * *

They continued flying for about an hour before they set down in another clearing. They began to unload their supplies while Toph just hopped down from Appa.

"Hey Toph, you mind helping unload the supplies?" Katara asked.

"What, you need my help to unload Sokka's funky smelling sleeping bag?" She asked irritably. Wondering if what she said was true, Sokka took a sniff of his bag and reeled back from the odor.

"Yes, but also with all the supplies. We all do our part to help out." Katara tried to explain, trying to keep her composure.

"Hey, I didn't ask you for diddly squat! I carry my own weight." Toph raised her voice.

"But you don't. You have been nothing but selfish and unhelpful ever since you joined us!" Katara yelled.

"Me selfish?! Look here, Sugar Queen, I gave up everything so I can teach Aang Earthbending, so you can just deal with it!" Toph yelled before creating a tent out of stone and lying down.

"Sugar Queen?!" Katara asked dumbfounded before Toph closed the tent shut in front of her, "Did you just slam the door in my face?!"

"How can you be so infuriating!?" Katara said, beating on the tent with her hands and feet, "Sooo, do we do something?" Aang asked, turning to Sokka and Kai, who both shrugged.

"I'm just going to enjoy the show." Sokka said, smiling as Aang approached Katara in her rage, "Okay look, you need to stop. It's been a long night and you both need to calm down." Aang said.

"Both!? I'M COMPLETELY CALM!" Katara shouted as the boys all backed away nervously and set up the sleeping bags and layed them out beside each other as they all tried to get some sleep, though Katara spoke again smirking, "Boy, the stars sure are beautiful tonight, too bad you can't see them Toph!" She said, only to hit with a pillar and knocked high into the air before landing on Sokka, who pushed her off irritably.

"Hey, how's a guy supposed to sleep with all the yelling and earth-quaking!?" He asked only for the door to Toph's tent to sink into the ground as she poked her head out, "That thing is back!" She said.

"Well how far away is it? Maybe we can close our eyes for just a few minutes?" Sokka asked, burrowing into his sleeping bag.

Kai looked up, seeing the smoke rise from the treeline not too far off, "No, I don't think you'll get to." He said and sadly they all boarded Appa again and took off into the night sky.

"Seriously, what is that thing?" Katara yawned.

"Yeah, and how does it keep finding us?" Toph huffed.

"I don't know, but this time, I'm going to make sure we lose it." Aang said simply.

They flew for another hour, not slowing down until they were certain that they were away from whatever was chasing them. After setting down at the top of a mountain, Appa fell over on his side, dumping everyone and everything out onto the ground.

"Okay, forget about setting up camp. I'm just going to find the softest pile of dirt and fall asleep there." Sokka said tiredly.

"Good idea, it's not like Toph was going to help or anything." Katara said bitterly as she lay down on her bedroll.

"Who do you think's following us? Zuko?" Aang asked.

"Possibly, we haven't seen him since the North Pole." Katara replied

"Listen guys, we had a long night. Whoever it is, let's just try to get some sleep, alright?" Kai said as he lay down on his bedroll as well. Before he got too comfortable though, Momo jumped up on him at started chittering.

"No Momo, it's not playtime it's bedtime." Kai said tiredly only for Momo to continue chattering and jumped over him and perked his ears about.

"No." Kai said in disbelief.

"Oh come on! They still managed to follow us!?" Sokka yelled.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Katara said.

"Wait, maybe we should see who's chasing us. Who knows, maybe they're friendly." Aang suggested.

"Always the optimist, huh?" Kai said with a grin as they gathered at the path down the mountain and saw the approaching smoke pillar.

When it came into view, they saw a heavily armored vehicle carrying a large metal trailer behind it. It started to slow to a stop and when it completely did, the side of the back trailer opened up with a puff of steam. To everyone's surprise, out came Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai riding giant lizards with saddles on their backs.

"Azula?" Kai asked aloud.

"Oh no, why did you have to have the sister with the stubborn attitude!?" Sokka shouted at Kai.

"Hey, don't blame me! Way back when you all took me, I told you that this sort of thing would happen and now it's happening. The smartest thing you can all do right now is run and leave me here for her to get." Kai said as they got closer, though Toph could hear a bit of disappointment in his voice.

"No way, we can take them, it's three on three." She said, trapping Kai's feet in earth shackles so he couldn't move.

"Uh, Toph, there's four of us still." Sokka said as they all got ready to fight, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't count you, you know on account of the whole 'no bending' and all?" She said.

"I can still fight!" He said defensively.

"Okay fine, it's three on three plus Sokka." She said, making him madder as they all turned back to the three approaching girls.

"I'm telling you all, your best chance is leaving me and getting out of here." Kai said which just made Toph bend the rocks so he was now laying on the ground, staring at the sky, bound by his hands and feet, "Now that that's covered." She said, creating three stone pillars up to try and stop the lizards who just crawled over and around them.

Toph continued to erect more stone pillars to try and slow them down but to no avail. Seeing that this fight was lost, the others picked Kai up and threw him onto Appa while Toph stayed behind to try and stall them some more.

"Toph, let's go!" Sokka called out.

As a last attempt, Toph raised a large wall made of stone in front of the three fast-approaching assailants. This didn't work however as they saw Azula charge some lightning and blasted a hole in the center of the wall large enough for the three to get through.

Mai shot some needles at Toph but she managed to block it with a small boulder. Toph raised herself on a section of earth and jumped onto Appa just as Mai shot a couple more needles at her. Azula fired a couple shots at them as they flew away but they managed to evade them.

They continued flying for as long as they could until the sun began to rise over the horizon.

"Oh, it's the morning! We've been awake all night!" Sokka groaned irritably.

"Sokka, we just need to figure out some way of escaping those three and then we can rest, alright?" Aang said.

"But I've never not slept before. What if I fall asleep and something happens? And something always happens!" Sokka said in a panic.

"Look, I know I'm supposed to be your prisoner and all, but I'm telling you to let me go for your safety. Azula is relentless. When she puts her mind to something, she won't rest until it's accomplished" Kai said seriously.

"What are we supposed to do? Just drop you off on the ground and fly away!?" Toph asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Kai said honestly, he knew that this was the only way they would get any real break time from Azula's pursuit, it was a win for all involved, well maybe not him, it was hard for him to tell.

"I hate to say it, but maybe we should think about it at least, I mean Appa can't fly for long with little sleep, just like we couldn't really fight for long as well. I think our best bet might be to drop him." Katara said.

"And let him go back to his trapped life?" Toph asked sadly.

They all sat silently, none of the other three had considered it that way. To leave Kai behind would slow the girls sure, but he would be headed back to an admittedly very tense home life, which would have been fine back when they captured him, but even though Sokka would hate to admit it, the Fire Prince had grown on them to the point that they could even call him a friend.

"I hadn't really thought of it like that." Katara admitted, looking down at Appa's saddle.

"Exactly, because you've never been the one trapped and forced to be something that you aren't. Once, you've lived that life, getting away from it is all you want, and then having to go back, it's a hard thing to do." Toph sighed.

"Thank you for saying all that Toph, and don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, but to put it simply, it's either you let me go, or die from exhaustion or fire." Kai said.

"No, there has to be another way, we can't just leave you like that." Toph said, crossing her arms stubbornly, but Kai saw the smoke of Azula's machine rising and saw that Appa was flying lower due to exhaustion, his choice became clear, he stood up, walked over to each of them and gave them a brief hug, Toph's lasted a bit longer before he spoke.

"Thank you all for caring, and the travel with you has been fun, but I'm taking the choice out of your hands." He said, his voice slipping back into the tone he used back when they first met as he let off a small blast of fire, pushing them each back and allowing him to be pushed off the saddle and fall towards the ground.

They ran to the edge of the saddle to see him land safely in a tree before hopping down from branch to branch. They didn't watch for long when they noticed that Appa was now falling out of the sky due to fatigue setting in. Aang pulled up as best he could and could at best pull off a controlled crash.

They did just that and crashed in a clearing by a riverbank. They lay strewn about, tired and weak. Toph was the first to get up started walking away.

"I'm going back to find Kai." She said simply.

"You can't take on those three alone." Aang argued.

"Yeah? Watch me." She retorted.

"You know, if it wasn't for your stubborn attitude and selfish behavior, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Katara yelled at her.

"What?! How is this my fault?!" Toph yelled back.

"If you had helped us set up camp, maybe we would have been able to have gotten some sleep and we wouldn't be in this mess!" Katara yelled again.

"You wanna know why they've been chasing us? Blame him." Toph said, pointing to Appa.

"What? What does Appa have to do with this?!" Aang asked angrily.

"It's because of his shedding, he's been leaving a trail and they've been tracking us." Toph said, pulling out a clump of shedding fur and letting it blow in the wind to emphasize her point.

"How dare you blame Appa! If anyone's at fault, it's you! We didn't have this trouble until you showed up! Appa didn't have this trouble with the four of us!" Aang yelled.

Toph just stared at him blankly. Without saying a word, she kicked up her bag into her hands and started walking in the direction they came. Sokka stepped in front of her to try and stop her but she simply pushed him to the side with Earthbending, leaving him with a confused look on his face.

* * *

 **-With Kai-**

He was heading swiftly back to where he could now hear rumbling. He knew that this was going to be hard, but he also knew Azula would stop to check him over and make sure he was alright, then they would have a chance to gain some ground and maybe rest. As he moved, he noticed bits of Appa's fur on the ground and in the trees.

'So that's how she found them; wonder if they'll notice that?' He thought as the rumbling got closer. He leaped back into the trees. He was going to have to land on this thing's hull since he wasn't sure they would stop in time on the ground. He saw the machine coming faster and very carefully dropped, landing with a solid *Clunk!*

The machine began to slow down, so he knew that they had heard him and sure enough, soon they had stopped. The door flew open and Azula spoke, "Who or whatever you are, you're slowing me down, so you had better have a good reason." She said in a threatening tone of voice as the three of them stepped out.

"Aw, and here I thought you would be happy to see me." Kai said jokingly, sliding off the machine so he stood in front of the three of them.

"Kai!" Ty Lee exclaimed, running up and hugging him tightly.

"I'm surprised, kid." Mai said with a hint of emotion in her voice.

"I am as well, how did you manage to escape?" Azula asked after delivering a hug of her own.

"Well I just remembered my training, wait for an opening and then make your move." Kai explained.

"Well, it seems I've taught you well." Azula said with pride before turning back to the machine, "Come Kai, we still have some enemies of the state to catch." She said simply.

"What?" Kai said, a bit surprised but then quickly hid it, "I mean... Why still go after them? I'm free so we can just go back to our original plan: Find and capture Zuko." Kai said, although he was kicking himself because he couldn't think of a better excuse.

"Because, while you were with them, the defeat, or at the very least, capture of the Avatar, became more of a secondary mission. It might not be personal anymore, but it's still our job. Besides, I thought you would be happy for the opportunity." Azula said, glancing over at him.

"I am, it's just surprising is all, and I'm exhausted." Kai said, which was partially true.

"You know Azula, he makes a good point, maybe we should all take a bit of time to rest. I mean we haven't really had the chance over the last few days, and besides, Kai could probably use food and some checking over." Ty Lee said.

Azula sighed, but they made a good point and an argument wouldn't help them here, "Fine, one hour's rest and then we get moving again." She said, leaving no room for argument and they all nodded.

'Not bad, better than nothing.' Kai thought as his stomach growled.

* * *

 **-The GAang-**

After Toph had left, they started to regret the argument they had. But, after they came to terms, they hatched a plan. After giving Appa a firm bath in the river, Aang gathered a large bundle of his fur and put it in a satchel.

"Okay, so here's the plan: I'll head in this direction and lead them off course, you guys head in the opposite direction with Appa." He explained.

"Will Appa be able to carry us? He's still pretty tired." Katara asked, petting the giant, flying animal.

"He should be fine as long as we leave the supplies and saddle here." Aang said. After wishing each other luck and saying goodbye, the two groups left in opposite directions.

* * *

 **-With Toph-**

Toph continued in the direction they came from. She stopped when she heard a noise. Kicking the ground, she hit something that was behind a rock. Going over to "see" what she hit, she found what sounded like an old man.

"Ow, my back." He said, rubbing his lower back that was hit by Toph's rock.

* * *

 **-With Kai-**

The hour had passed and Kai had taken full advantage. He slept for a few minutes, ate, and he had even changed. He now wore a two-toned red and burgundy short sleeve kimono shirt with a black lining, tied by a thick, molten gold, stylized belt with a plane, black undershirt, and a pair of black pants. On his hands, he's wearing black, finger-less gloves and calf-length burgundy boots. Much as green suited him, he had to admit he had missed his home colors.

As soon as the hour was up, they had set out again, and they soon came to a river. They got out of their transport and investigated. Kai stepped out and looked about as well, "Wads of wet fur? How delightful." Mai said sarcastically.

"I don't know, they aren't wads, they're more like bundles or bunches? Something with an 'Uh' sound." Ty Lee said, thinking as Kai and Azula checked things over.

"Clumps?" Mai suggested and Ty Lee beamed, "Clumps, that's what they are." She said, hugging Mai, who pushed her away after a second and examined the ground where the fur led, "The trail heads this way." She said, pointing.

"Yeah, but the tops of the tree's are broken this way." Kai said, indicating the tree tops.

"The Avatar is trying to give us the slip. Mai and Ty Lee, you head off in that direction and keep an eye out for the bison, Kai and I will follow the trail." she said, indicating the fur. They all nodded, heading in the directions they were told on their lizard mounts.

* * *

 **-With Aang-**

Aang flew for a few miles, being sure to let the fur drift out from the bag on his hip. Soon, he came across a seemingly long abandoned town and glided down as the last of the fur fell out. He took the bag off and set it on the ground. He took his glider and prepared to take off and then paused.

He was tired, hungry, and wanted. He knew eventually someone would follow the trail here, so rather than run, he choose to sit and rest, trusting that Katara and the others were alright. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and waited.

* * *

 **-Sokka and Katara-**

They continued flying over the forest. It had been an hour since they split away from Aang and it seemed that the plan was working perfectly... That was until Momo began to growl at something below them.

"What is it Mom-oh no! Katara!" Sokka yelled, seeing that they were being closely followed by Mai and Ty Lee.

"How did they find us?!" Katara asked, whipping Appa's lead to try and make him fly faster.

"Come on, Appa!" Sokka yelled.

"He can't go faster, he's too tired!" Katara yelled back.

"We just need to make it over the river and we'll be fine!" Sokka said.

Using the last bit of energy he had, Appa managed to glide over the river and crash on the other side. They began to relax until they saw, to their surprise, the lizards running across the water's surface.

Katara tried to knock them off with a large wave that hit Ty Lee's lizard, but she jumped off at the last second. She flipped in the air and landed in a tree on the other side of the river.

She jumped from one tree to another and landed on the ground, trying to get in close to block Katara's chi. Katara dodged a few of her hits and sent water spikes at Ty Lee, who was forced to back away and dodge them. Mai saw an opening and shot three mini arrows at Katara's back, only for Sokka to block them with his club and boomerang before throwing it at Mai.

She leaped off of her lizard mount and shot more at him, which he managed to block as he and Katara shifted so they were each facing the other girl. Sokka swung at Ty Lee with his boomerang which she dodged before blocking the chi in that arm, making it go completely limp. He swung with his club and she did the same. He tried to kick at her and she stopped him again. She went for his other leg and Sokka blocked with his head which actually hurt her fingers, making Ty Lee growl.

"Nice try, but no." He said simply.

Katara was not having much better luck. As she made some water from the river rise up, Mai threw two knives and pinned her arms to a tree by the bands she wore. Katara was caught as Sokka hobbled over, followed by Ty Lee who, as usual for her, was smiling happily.

"So, how ya doin'?" Sokka asked, falling beside his sister.

"I've been better, ya know?" She said as they stared at their soon to be captors, "You know, I thought when we caught you guys, you would put up more of a fight. But, what can you do? Victory is boring." Mai sighed, crossing her arms before there was a roar as she and Ty Lee were launched by a gust of air into the river.

Appa stood where they had been and let out another small roar.

"Thanks big guy, what would we do without you?" Sokka asked, prompting Appa to lick him, leaving him covered in drool.

* * *

 **-With Toph-**

"Here is your tea." The old man said, passing a small cup to Toph. After apologizing for hitting him, Toph and the old man began to talk. He was even kind enough to brew up some tea for the two of them.

He passed her the cup but she didn't take it, she just stared at the ground sadly, "You seem a little too young to be traveling alone." The old man observed.

"You seem a little too old." Toph retorted, taking the tea. The old man chuckled heartily at this, "Perhaps I am." He said with a smile.

"I know what you're thinking: I look like I can't handle being by myself." Toph said, taking a sip from the cup.

"I wasn't thinking that." The old man said simply.

"You wouldn't even let me pour my own cup of tea." She said.

"I poured your tea because I wanted to and for no other reason." The old man said politely.

"People see me and think I'm weak. They want to take care of me, but I can take care of myself, by myself." Toph said.

"You sound like one of my nephews, always thinking you need to do things on your own without anyone's support. There is nothing wrong with letting people who love you help you. Not that I love, I just met you." The old man stammered a bit, not to be misinterpreted.

Toph laughed a bit at this, "So, where are your nephews?" She asked.

"One of them is with his sister. I've been tracking the other one for a while actually." The man explained.

"Is he lost?" She asked.

"Yes, a little bit. His life has recently changed and he's going through some difficult times. He's trying to figure out who he is and he went away." The old man said sadly.

"Kinda sounds like a friend I'm looking for. So now you're following him?" Toph asked.

"I know he doesn't want me around, but if he needs me, I'll be there." He said.

"Your nephew's very lucky, even if he doesn't know it." She said, getting up, "Thank you."

"My pleasure, sharing tea with a interesting stranger is one of life's true delights." He said politely.

"No, I mean thank you for what you said, it helped me." Toph said, picking up her bag and walking away, "I'm glad." The man said.

"Oh, and about your nephew, the one you've been tracking, maybe you should tell him that you need him too." She said before heading off and leaving the man alone to think.

* * *

 **-With Aang-**

Aang sat with his eyes closed for what he judged to be a good half hour before he heard the approaching footsteps and knew it was the lizard mounts. He opened his eyes but stayed seated as at last a girl came up on one of them followed by Kai, which let Aang know this could only be Azula, not that knowing her name was going to help him much.

"Alright, so you've caught up with me, now who are you and what do you want?" Aang asked carefully.

"Seriously? You had my brother captive for how long and you don't see the family resemblance? Granted, I suppose you might be more familiar with our other sibling you know," She said, covering her left eye and dropping her voice tone, "I must find the Avatar to restore my honor." She said before removing her hand from her eye.

"You know it's okay to laugh, it's funny." She said, moving her hand from her eye.

"Yeah, so your the sister, he warned us about you. You know, I expected you to be taller. So what happens now?" Aang asked, still sitting.

"Now? Now it's over. You're tired and you have nowhere to go. You can run, but we'll catch you. You can hide, but we'll find you." Azula said as Aang finally stood to face them, "No, I'm not running or hiding." He said.

"Well now, that's awfully brave of you. Would've hurt less if you had just surrendered; I mean do you really want to fight both of us?" Azula asked and in spite of himself, Kai was hoping that Aang was smart enough to have some form of a plan.

 _'Although he is pretty tired.'_ Kai thought.

Before Aang could answer, another voice rang out as an Ostrich Horse rode between the three of them, "Yes, I really do." Zuko said, taking off the large hat he wore on his head.

Aang was surprised as Kai said, "Well fantastic, everyone's here." Even though Kai could hear his own heart beat in his ears. Zuko being here was not something he had been ready for and it made things just a bit more complex.

"I was wondering when you'd show up, Zuzu." Azula said, keeping her arms folded and her voice calm, but Kai knew she was excited. Azula loved a good fight.

"You two back off, the Avatar is mine." Zuko said, taking up a ready stance. Azula nodded covertly to Kai, who took a place to the left of her so the four of them stood in a diamond now, "We aren't going anywhere." Kai said as he and Azula each took up different stances and Aang took one as well.

They all stood there in silence, all of them waiting for someone to strike. Kai was confused as to how he wanted this fight to play out as he had something to lose and something to gain no matter what side won here. Just as he was contemplating everything and trying to figure things out, Azula made the first move, sending a blast at Aang, who dodged it.

Zuko went to blast Azula but as she expected, Kai was there to stop him, sending a blast so fast that Zuko barely got a fire shield up to block it, and it still sent him flying into a wall. What none of them had expected was the fire that left Kai's hands was not it's usual orange and red, or Azula's sapphire flames. His were a deep, rich, molten gold, like a sunset on the clouds.

 _'That's new.'_ All four of them thought as the battle escalated.

Azula continued to fire on the offensive while Kai blocked any shots from Zuko while Aang dodged around the crossfire. Aang jumped between two buildings as Azula shot fireballs at him but missed. Kai kept Zuko busy as Azula went after Aang. She ran up a small flight of stairs and into a building, seeing Aang on his air scooter. She ran in but it turned out the floor was missing and she almost fell.

Quickly correcting herself, she stood on the thin ledge near the wall. Zuko managed to get a small upper hand on Kai and distracted him long enough to go after Azula and Aang. He was to eager though and he ended up running into the room and fell through the missing floor.

Azula then shot a fireball at Aang but he dispersed his air scooter so he fell to the ground as well. He ran out the building and back into the street, trying to figure out a plan. He let out a small yelp when he was grabbed from behind in a full nelson but calmed himself when he found that it was Kai.

Before Aang could question anything, Kai was seized by a water whip and yanked away from Aang and thrown through a window of a nearby building, "Katara!" Aang said, smiling before being forced to dodge a jet of sapphire flames from Azula. Katara ran and Azula chased after her and Sokka leaped out, trying to attack her and forcing her to dodge.

Meanwhile, Kai rose to his feet just in time to dodge Zuko's attack on him. He swerved to the right and blasted a spout of golden fire at Zuko, knocking him out the back window. As Zuko began to stand, Kai kicked him in the head, knocking him out, "Sorry about that Zuzu." He muttered before going to find Azula.

Azula was fending off attacks relatively well, she kept Aang off and unable to attack and was managing to block Katara's water attacks. Kai leaped in and stood beside her and just as she was thinking of how they could maybe shift the fight in their favor, the earth beneath them shifted and she and Kai were knocked off balance.

"I thought you guys could use some help." Toph said, smiling.

"Thanks." Katara said as the two siblings leaped up. Azula signaled to Kai it was time to fall back. They both blasted the others back and headed in the opposite direction.

Zuko was roused by someone shaking him a bit forcefully and opening his eyes he saw, "Uncle?" He asked, looking up at Iroh.

"Get up, hurry, we need to move fast." Iroh said and Zuko, still a bit sore from the kick, nodded and followed the older man around the buildings and into a back alley where they just managed to cut off Azula and Kai from escaping, knocking them backwards and forcing them back into a wall along with the GAang.

"Well, look at this Kai, enemies and traitors, all working together." Azula said before sighing and Kai knew what that meant.

"We're done, it's easy to tell we're beaten here, the royal family surrenders with honor." Kai said as he and Azula both held their hands up.

As the group surrounded the two members of the royal family, Kai saw Iroh looking at Toph, as if the two had met before. As he looked to Azula, he saw a calculating look in her eyes when he saw the two were distracted.

Time seemed to travel in slow motion as he saw her create two fireballs in her palms and began to throw them. The first one hit Iroh in the chest, sending him reeling back and falling to the ground. The second one was headed right for Toph. Thinking as fast as he could, Kai boosted himself forward with Firebending and got in front of the fireball.

Just as it was about to hit Toph, Kai jumped in front of her and took the shot to the chest, causing him to fall to the ground as well.

Zuko had a look of shock on his face as he saw his uncle fall to the ground and Azula had a look of shock and confusion as she saw Kai fall into the dirt. Reacting with their anger, Zuko and the GAang fired a collective bast of their respective elements at Azula, creating a large explosion that sent them skidding back.

As the dust cleared, they found Azula had disappeared. Zuko ran over to Iroh and knelt down next to him and looked him over. Toph did the same with Kai. The other members of the group walked up to Zuko carefully.

"Go away." He said darkly.

Katara carefully walked toward Zuko, "Zuko, I can help. Just let me-"

"Leave!" He yelled, firing a wave of fire at the group in anger.

They walked quickly over to Kai, who Toph was checking over, "He's not doing well, please Katara, can you help?" Toph asked and for the first time, she seemed extremely worried.

"I can help him, but we need to get him to Appa first so we can get moving." Toph nodded and lifted him up and carried him quickly towards Appa. Taking one final look back at Zuko, they took off into the air.

"Toph..." Kai groaned as Katara used her water bending to heal the burn best she could.

"Kai, I'm right over here." Toph said gently.

"Are you okay?" He asked weakly and Toph was surprised at that. She squeezed his hand a little, "I'm fine, you didn't have to do that." She said in a partially annoyed, but mostly worried, voice.

"I know, but I just moved on instinct. I don't like to see the people I care about hurt." He said before passing out again.

She smiled warmly at this, holding his hand as he slept.

* * *

 **-Later-**

After flying to a secluded spot, they set Appa down and they all fell asleep. Toph lay next to Kai, still holing onto his hand, both with a grin on their lips.

* * *

 **-With Azula-**

Azula rode back to her transport, her face showing nothing but continued shock, confusion, and now worry, 'Why would he do that? It was just one of the Avatar's allies. Where is he now? Is he alright? Did I just kill my little brother?' Were all thoughts that were running through Azula's head. What bothered her most was that she didn't have an answer to any of theses questions.

When she stopped, she got off her mount and found Mai and Ty Lee waiting for her.

"Azula, are you alright? Where's Kai?" Ty Lee asked as a tear came to Azula's eye and she started shaking and stared at them, "I don't know." She said.

* * *

 **A/N: So yeah this was a long chapter and we are proud of that. Leave a review if you like and we'll see you next chapter!**


	7. Training Daze

**A/N: Hello everybody and welcome to Chapter 7! It's a little shorter than usual, but I'll explain why at the end. Special thanks to my friend/co-author/beta MaxGentlman 1 for all his hard work go check him out when your done reading this.**

 **Disclaimer: You all know we don't own Avatar, if we did that horrible live action wouldn't have happened.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Dawn broke over the edges of the canyon the group was camping in. It had been a few of days since they had outran Azula and Kai was recovering from the burns rather well. Even though it was only dawn, Aang was already wide awake and ready to start his Earthbending training.

"Today's the day!" He yelled quietly, "Can you believe it? After all that time looking for a teacher I can finally start Earthbending! And this place, it's perfect, don't you think?" He asked Sokka, who was still asleep in his bed roll. "Sokka?" Aang asked after he didn't answer.

Sokka just turned his head toward Aang and grumbled irritably at him.

"Oh, you're still sleeping huh?" Aang asked, causing Sokka to just turn over and go back to sleep.

"Sorry." Aang whispered before Toph burst out of her earth tent, "Good morning Earthbending student!" She said, walking over.

"Good morning Sifu Toph." Aang said, bowing as Katara sat up, "Hey, you never called me Sifu Katara." She said, sounding a little jealous.

"Well if you think I should." Aang said before Sokka grumbled again, glancing at each of them angrily and Kai stuck his head out from where he had been sleeping on Appa with some interest.

"Sorry snoozles, we'll do our Earthbending as quietly as we can." Toph said before kicking the earth up under Sokka and sending him high into the air before he hit the ground and got up, mumbling gibberish sounding words at all of them before hopping away in his sleeping bag .

As Kai laughed slightly, though not for long since his chest still hurt a bit, Toph did something that only Katara saw. Glancing over at Kai, she winked at him and Kai went a bit red before he lay back down on Appa. She could swear Toph smiled a little and was about go talk to the younger girl before Aang rushed over to Toph, so Katara made a mental note to talk to Toph later.

"So what move are you going to teach me first!? Rockalanche!? The Trembler?! Oh! Maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool out of land!" He said, waving his arms and spinning in a circle excitedly before Toph held out a hand to stop him.

"How about we start with move a rock?" She suggested and Aang nodded, a bit embarrassed, "Right, sounds good." He said smiling.

Toph lead Aang to a clearing in the canyon where she placed two boulders about their size in front of them. Katara and Kai followed and watched from the sidelines a safe distance away.

"Okay, now the key to Earthbending is your stance. Earth is a stubborn element, if you want to move it then you gotta be like a rock yourself. Now, this move is pretty basic so watch me and do as I do." She said, getting into a starting stance and taking in a deep breath. She then rocketed her fist forward and sent the rock hurtling forward before crashing into the side of the canyon.

"Okay, I think I got it." Aang said. He got into a similar stance as Toph and took in a deep breath. He then shot his fist forward, but to his surprise, instead of the rock shoot forward it shot Aang back and into the wall behind him.

Despite himself, Kai couldn't help but start laughing at what had happened. Sokka also laughed at Aang's misfortune.

"Rock beats Airbender, right Kai?" Sokka said between chuckles.

"I don't get it, Aang did exactly as you did. What went wrong?" Katara asked Toph as Aang walked back to his position.

"Maybe there's another way? What if I come at from a different angle?" Aang said as he was about to try it but was stopped when Toph grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"No, that's your problem: You keep thinking like an Airbender when you should be thinking like an Earthbender. There's no 'Other way', no 'Different angle', no 'Trickity-trick' that's going to help you move that rock. You have to face it head on, and by 'head on' I mean like this." She said before leaping at the boulder and slamming her head into it, shattering the boulder into a pile of gravel and pebbles.

Aang flinched at the action and Kai's eyes widened her strength.

Katara walked over to where Toph now stood and leaned down, "Listen, I've been teaching Aang for a while now and he really responds well to a positive teaching experience. Lots of encouragement and praise, kind words. If he's doing something wrong maybe more of a gentle nudge in the right direction." She said.

"Thanks Katara, a gentle nudge, I'll try that." Toph said, walking back over to Aang. They then watched as she proceeded to put Aang through several very ungentle exercises from carrying a large boulder on his back while she tried to unbalance him, to scaring him while he tried to maintain his stance.

Once, she even trapped Aang between two rock walls and charged him covered in rock armor, forcing him to use only his physical strength to push her back and through it all, Aang improved very well in a few hours time.

* * *

 **-Meanwhile-**

While watching Toph put Aang through the wringer was entertaining, Kai decided that he had to train so he could be at his best, even if he was still recovering.

He stood at the top of a small plateau with only his pants and bandages. He took in a deep breath before going through a series of stances and attacks, shooting his new golden flames around him. While the burn caused a hindrance in his training, he worked though the pain of the burn and continued.

He was curious about these golden flames. While he knew that fire could burn in different colors such as Azula's sapphire flames, he's never seen it burn in the brilliant sunset color that it was burning in right now.

He finished the last few stances of the routine before finishing with a flying dragon kick that sent a large fireball at a nearby boulder, actually managing to turn break it to pieces.  
He breathed heavily after finishing the exercise and decided that that was enough for the time being. Grabbing the rest of his gear, he made his way back to camp.

* * *

As he got back, Toph was preparing Aang's next exercise, "This time we'll try something a little different, instead of moving a rock your going to be stopping a rock. Now get in your horse stance." Toph said and Aang did so.

"Now then, I'm gonna roll that boulder down at you , if you have the attitude of an Earthbender, you'll stay in your stance and stop the rock." She said, pointing up the canyon wall chute she had made to a boulder the size of Aang himself.

"Uh, wait Toph, are you sure this is the best way to teach him Earthbending?" Katara asked, concerned.

Toph paused in thought, "You know, I'm glad you said something, there is a better way." She said, taking the sash around Aang's waist and tying it around his eyes, "This way you'll really have to feel the vibrations of the earth to stop it. Thank you Katara." She said.

"Yeah, thanks Katara." Aang groaned as she smiled. Toph launched herself up to the boulder and knocked it towards Aang. It rolled quickly towards him, and just as it got near, Kai was impressed when Aang leaped over it still blindfolded and let it slam into the opposite wall.

As Aang landed softly, Toph came charging up to him, less than happy at his actions. She gave him a stern look as he looked down at her in shame.

"I guess I just panicked. I don't know what to say." Aang said sadly.

"There's nothing to say! You blew it! You had a perfect stance and perfect form but when it came right down to it you didn't have the guts!" She yelled, punching Aang in the chest to emphasize her point, knocking him down.

"I know, I'm sorry." He said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, you are sorry! If you're not tough enough to stop the rock, than at least give it the pleasure of smushing you instead of jumping out of the way like a jelly-boned wimp!" She yelled at him, getting in his face. "Now, do you have what it takes to face that rock like an Earthbender?" She asked sternly.

"...No, I don't think I do." Aang said, lowering his head in total shame from her scolding.

"Aang, it's no big deal." Katara said, walking up and placing a hand on his shoulder, "You'll take a break and try it again when you're ready. Besides, you still have a lot of Waterbending to work on, okay?" She said.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Aang said halfheartedly, getting up off the ground.

"Yeah, whatever, go splash around until ya feel better." Toph said uncaring, walking off in the opposite direction.

Kai walked over to Toph as Aang and Katara went to a nearby river. "You know, you might be going a little hard on him. Not to criticize your teaching style, but yelling doesn't seem to work with Aang." He said.

"Yeah, well maybe he should stop being so sensitive. He can do it, I can feel it. He just needs a good kick in the pants, you know? If he would just get some guts he'd have no issue." She said as they both sat against Appa.

"Anyway how are you holding up? Almost better?" She asked with genuine concern.

"Not completely, but it's getting better. I did a little training today, still trying to figure out the new fire thing though." He admitted, and Toph smiled over at him with a yawn.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out Hot Foot, for now though, I can hear your breathing isn't quite right, so why don't we both take a rest?" She asked and to his surprise she lay her head in his lap, smiling up at him.

"Sounds good to me." He said, smiling back.

"Good because you make a pretty good pillow." She said and they both laughed.

The two slept for what Kai guessed to be about an hour. As he stirred from his nap and opened his eyes, he blushed a bit when he found Toph sleeping against his chest, just inches from his face. He had to admit, she looked very peaceful when she was sleeping, unlike her usual tough-as-nails personality.

He carefully moved her off of him and onto Appa. After making sure that she wasn't stirred from her nap, he got up and started to walk off until he stopped and looked back at her. Feeling a bit daring, he walked back over to her a gently placed a small peck on her forehead, causing her to smile slightly in her sleep.

He then started to walk off and decided to look around just outside the canyon. What he found was Sokka stuck neck deep in a crevice.

"Oh thank god, Kai! Did you bring any meat?" Sokka asked quickly.

"No. How did you get into that hole anyway?" Kai asked, not really amused at Sokka.

"Well it all happened like this..." He started.

* * *

 **-Five Hours Earlier-**

A small, furry creature walked by a tree that Sokka was hiding in.

"Wow you are cute, but unfortunately you are made of meat and I will have to eat you." Sokka said before jumping out of the tree with his club raised and letting out a war cry. He missed the creature by mere inches and landed in the hole up to his waist. He tried to attack again but only succeeded in falling further in.

* * *

 **-Present-**

"And that's how it happened." Sokka said, finishing his story. Kai just looked down at him with a look of complete disbelief at his incompetence.

"So, let me get this straight, this adorable little guy dodged you and then out smarted you?" Kai asked, pinching the bridge of his nose and staring down at Sokka with a look so like Azula that the older boy actually flinched.

"Well when you put it that way yeah pretty much." He said as the creature walked up to Kai and licked his palm. Kai sighed and petted it behind the ears, "Okay, so I can't get you out, at least not without some severe burns, so I'm going to go get Toph or Aang and they can bend you out." He said, heading back towards the camp before he paused and looked back.

"By the way Sokka, don't play with that thing too much it's a moose bear cub and the mothers are known to be extremely protective." He said, setting off again.

"Wait, what!? So you're just going to leave me here?! What if it comes while your gone!?" Sokka asked, panicking.

"Just stay still and don't touch the cub too much, I'll be back in no time." Kai said, setting off again and leaving Sokka staring at the cub with caution, "Just stay there okay?" He asked it and it licked him in response.

Kai went back towards the campsite to find someone who could help. Luckily, he ran into Aang, who was coming from the opposite direction.

"Kai, I'm looking for Sokka, have you seen him?" He asked.

"Yeah, he's this way, come on." Kai said, leading Aang back the way he came. They soon came back to where Sokka was stuck.

"Oh thank goodness, Aang. Did you bring any meat?" He asked.

"Will you shut up about the meat?! We're trying to get you out!" Kai exclaimed.

"How did he end up in here anyway?" Aang asked curiously.

"We'll explain later, for now we just need to get him out somehow." Kai explained before the moose lion cub came walking up to Aang and Kai's feet.

"Oh, let me introduce you two. Aang, Foo Foo Cuddly Poops. Foo Foo Cuddly Poops, Aang." Sokka said, pointing between Aang and the moose lion.

"Aw, what a cute name for a little baby saber tooth moose lion cub." Aang said, picking it up.

"So wait, Kai wasn't just messing with me!?" Sokka asked.

"No way, it's just hard to tell before their giant teeth and horns grow in." Aang said, staring at it.

"Yeah, and you should really put him down." Kai said carefully.

"Come on, he's harmless right now. What are you doing out here little guy, did you loose your mommy?" He asked.

"He probably did, and we should be more worried about what could happen when it's mommy..." Kai started before they all heard a loud roar and turned to see a large, fully grown saber tooth moose lion growling at them "Returns." Kai finished with a sigh.

They just stood in place, frozen as they stared each other down. Aang looked at the cub quickly and back to the mother.

"Hey," He said nervously,"We found your cub." He finished, holding it above his head as it gave a soft yawning sound.

The mother let out a deep snort, causing steam to come out its nose like a bull. Before any of them could try anything, it charged full speed at the three boys. Aang and Kai quickly dodged out of the way as it charged past them.

"Aang, you gotta get me out of here!" Sokka yelled.

"Okay, I'll try." Aang said hesitantly. He shot a powerful stream of air into the crevice but only ended up blowing up some dust and Sokka's hair.

"Aang, you gotta use Earthbending." Kai yelled in a hurried tone.

"I can't." Aang said sadly.

"Yes, you can, you just have to believe. Think like an Earthbender and be the rock." Kai yelled.

Aang looked at Kai and then turned to the moose lion that was getting ready to charge again. He took in a deep breath as it began its charge. Just as it was about to hit them, Aang bent the air around him, sending the beast over his head and crashing down behind them.

The animal stood shaking itself off and snorted before it and the cub walked away, "Nice work Aang." Kai said smiling and then they all heard a slow clap and turning they saw Toph sitting on a rock

"Toph? You've been there the whole time?" Kai asked, surprised.

"Yeah, pretty much. I was just enjoying the show." She said casually.

"Then why didn't you do something?! Sokka and Kai were in trouble! I was in trouble! You could've gotten him out and helped us get away!" Aang said.

"I suppose so, yeah, it just didn't occur to me." She said, throwing a nut on the ground and grabbing Aang's staff from behind her. As she brought it down, Aang caught it. "Enough, give me my staff." He said sternly, taking it.

Kai was surprised when Toph smiled and jumped down, "Do it now!" She said.

"Do what?" Aang asked confused.

"Earthbend, Twinkle Toes. You just stood your ground against a crazy beast and more impressive than that, you stood your ground against me, you've got the stuff." She said.

"But I..." Aang started before Toph cut him off shouting, "Do it!" and pointing to a boulder. Aang approached, took his stance and flung the boulder away.

"You did it! Your and Earthbender." Toph said proudly, "Congratulations." Kai said.

"I can't believe it." Aang said happily.

"Aw, this is all really touching, so can you get me out of here so I can give you both a big, snugly hug?" Sokka said, "No problem!" Aang said, running over before Toph stopped him.

"Actually, you better let me take care of this one. You are still new to this, you could crush him." She said.

"Yeah, no crushing please." Sokka said, smiling as Toph stomped on the ground and pulled him out like a carrot and walked away with Kai as Aang helped Sokka up and the followed.

* * *

As they walked back to the camp, Kai turned to Toph.

"So did you plan the whole bit with Aang standing up for himself or was it surprising to you?" He asked.

"A little of both. I did the whole thing to teach him to stand up and be forceful but I figured I'd have to do something more." Toph explained with her hands behind her head and a grin.

"What, you mean more than standing by while we were fighting a moose lion?" Kai asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Pretty much." She said casually as they finally reached the camp. When they arrived, Katara ran up to the disheveled Sokka and looked him over.

"Sokka, I was so worried. Are you alright?" She asked with concern.

"Katara, when a man is stuck in a hole for that long, you really start to think about what's important in your-" He was saying before Aang cut him off.

"Hey Katara, check this out!" He said excitedly and knocked a boulder off a small ledge with his Earthbending.

"Aang, that's great!" Katara said with pride, completely forgetting about Sokka.

"You tried the positive reinforcement didn't you?" Katara whispered to Toph.

"Yeah, it worked wonders." Toph said, smirking as she walked over to Kai and whispered, "As for you, next time you want to kiss me, if you don't want me to know, make sure I'm asleep."

She smirked again and making sure the others were not looking, she kissed his cheek and walked back towards Aang, feeling proud as she felt the Fire Prince's heart beat race.

* * *

They all spent the next few weeks training hard and Kai finally healed, though with a slight scar on his chest. After a while though, they were all starting to feel tired.

"You know what, I say we all pick a mini vacation." Aang said.

* * *

 **A/N: So as stated above this is a shorter chapter than usual. We figured after the last chapter being incredibly long this one would be something of a break chapter. The other reason is that next chapter is going to be a pretty long one as well and we are excited for it. For now though, we hope you liked what you've read leave a review if you would like we appreciate them and sometimes we get great idea's from them. We'll see you all next chapter!**


	8. I Knew We Should've Gone To The Beach

**A/N** : **Hello, everybody! Welcome to chapter 8 and man is this going to be a long one. Seriously this is out longest chapter yet and we have a new character! Special thanks to my co-author/beta/friend MaxGentlman 1. Go check him out because he's awesome.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope we still aren't the owners of Avatar.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Aang had managed to convince the others that the mini vacation was a good idea and so, after basically dragging Sokka along under threat of being crushed and/or burned, Aang got to choose first.

"Why does he get to go first?" Kai asked.

"Because it was his idea." Katara said as Appa flew them to where ever it was Aang wanted to go, which was apparently the middle of nowhere.

"Uh, Aang, there's nothing here." Sokka said as they climbed down.

When they got to the ground, they looked to see a vast field of holes in the ground.

"Not exactly, Sokka, there are hundreds of little-"

"Shh" Aang shushed, cutting Toph off as he sat on the ground in front of the field of holes with a flute made out of a river reed, "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise." Aang said before placing his fingers over a couple of holes on the flute and blew, causing a somewhat high-pitched note to play.

To Kai's amazement, a prairie dog popped up from one of the holes and mimicked the flute's note.

"Ha ha, yeah!" Aang said before playing another note on the flute and causing a different prairie dog to pop up and mimic that note.

"I'm putting an orchestra together!" Aang said with a wide grin.

"An orchestra huh? Well la dee da." Sokka said sarcastically and three other prairie dogs popped out and repeated in descending tone. Momo tried catching one but ended up falling into the hole.

Aang continued playing on the flute and the prairie dogs continued mimicking him until Sokka placed his index finger in Aang's flute out of annoyance.

"This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about?" Sokka said sternly,"We should be making plans."

"We did make plans, we're all picking mini vacations." Toph said as if it were obvious.

"There's no time for vacations." Sokka said seriously.

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard everyday with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrow off." Aang said.

"Yeah Sokka, you might not understand this, but bending and the training that goes into it takes a lot of time and effort, and it can get pretty tiring." Kai said and Toph nodded.

"We've all been doing really well, so what's wrong with having some fun on our downtime?" Katara asked.

"Okay, but Aang, even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation." Sokka said before pausing and turning to Kai, "You don't happen to have a map of the Fire Nation do you?" He asked hopefully.

"No, sorry, can't say that I do." Kai shrugged, which was technically true. He had no physical map of the Fire Nation, he did have the capital city map memorized, but that wouldn't help much with the rest of the nation.

Sokka sighed, turning back to Aang, "So, yeah, what do we do then, just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house? Hello, anybody home? I don't think so, we need some intelligence if we're going to win this war." Sokka said.

"Alright, fine, tell you what, why don't we finish our vacations and then we can find Sokka's intelligence." Katara said, making the others laugh as Aang pulled out the map.

"Okay Katara, where do you want to go for your vacation?" Aang asked. She leaned over and examined the map, "How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That seems refreshing." She said.

"Oh yeah! I've been there, it's a pristine natural ice ring and I usually don't use the word 'pristine'. It's one of natures wonders!" Aang said as they all boarded Appa.

* * *

Their spirits quickly fell when they arrived at the oasis, finding that the large glacier that lay in the center of the town was now nothing more than a large bit of ice no taller than the huts surrounding it.

"Must've changed ownership since the last time I was here." Aang said awkwardly, laughing sheepishly as they entered the dilapidated town.

They were entering a small cantina when a man wrapped in clothes and wearing goggles with small slits in them hocked a lugy at Kai's feet. Kai glared daggers at the man, who just looked at him with a smug grin with few to no teeth in his mouth. He wanted badly to turn those cloths into bandages but Toph placed a hand on his shoulder and he calmed down and they entered the bar.

When they entered and looked about, the air was heavy and hot, almost like a sauna. They looked over to the bar and saw a man with dual swords slice up fruits and place them into a bowl made of ice and adding juice to it.

'No wonder the glacier shrank' Kai thought.

"I see no harm in having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy." Sokka said as they walked over to the bar counter.

Just as they walked up, the man who ordered the previous drink accidentally walked into Aang and spilled his drink all over Aang's front.

"Oh my, please forgive me." The man said politely.

"No worries, I clean up easy." Aang said without worry before bending air around him and quickly drying himself off. The man gasped at Aang when he did this.

"My word, you're a living relic." He said in astonishment.

"Thanks, I try." Aang said, taking it as a compliment. A rather odd one, but still.

"An Air Nomad right in front of me." He said excitedly, examining Aang, "Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University. Tell me, which of the Air Temples do you hail from?" He asked, staring at Aang's tattoos and starting to measure his head.

"The Southern Temple?" Aang said awkwardly, watching the man.

"Oh, splendid! Now, tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?" He asked excitedly.

"Uh, not sure, are fruit pies an agricultural product?" Aang asked and Kai chuckled a little, watching the scene unfold before him. He couldn't help it, somethings were too funny even for his self control.

"Oh, truly fascinating, that's one for the journal!" The professor said, not bothering to answer Aang's question at all as he pulled out a journal and began to jot things down within it. Sokka decided to speak now that he and the others had their drinks, "So, professor, you're obviously a well traveled guy. Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated."

"Oh, yes certainly." He said, pulling out a map and spreading it out on the table in front of them so they could examine it. Sokka looked it over eagerly and his face fell, "What, no Fire Nation? Does no one have a good map of that place?" He groaned. Katara looked it over and noted the map was near their location.

"You've made a lot of trips into the desert." She said.

"Yes, but all in vain I'm afraid. I've found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom, but I haven't managed to find the crown jewel." He said, seeming more determined.

"And this crown jewel is?" Kai asked carefully.

"Wan Shi Tong's library." The professor said.

"You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy's library?" Toph asked, not really interested.

"This library is more valuable then gold, little lady. It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge. And knowledge is priceless." The professor explained.

"Hmm, sounds like a good time." She said sarcastically.

"Oh, it is," He continued with enthusiasm,"According to legend, it was built by the great knowledge spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his foxy knowledge seekers."

"Oh, so this spirit has attractive assistants huh?" Sokka asked with a sly smile.

"I think he means they look like actual foxes, Sokka." Kai spoke up.

"You're both correct. Handsome little creatures. Wan Shi Tong and his seekers collected books from all over the world and put them on display for mankind to read, so that we might better ourselves." Professor Zei continued, pulling out an illustration of what the library looked like.

The picture showed a large, brilliant building that looked similar to the Taj Mahal. Many towers with dome-shaped roofs and other examples of architecture. It looked closer to a temple than a library.

"If this place has books from all over the world, you think they got info on the Fire Nation? A map maybe?" Sokka asked as they leaned in and looked the picture over.

"I wouldn't know. But, if such a thing exists, it's in Won Shi Tong's Library." Zei said in a tone that sounded somewhat ominous but also sad. Sokka thought for a moment before it looked as though he decided on something.

"Then it's settled. Aang, I do believe it's my turn and I'd like to spend my vacation at THE LIBRARY!" He proclaimed loudly.

"Uh, hey, what about me? When do I get to pick?" Toph asked irritably.

"You gotta work here a little longer before you qualify for vacation time." Sokka said. Toph just slammed her drink on the counter and "humphed" before crossing her arms.

"Well, even if you wanted to go, there would be the matter of finding the place. I've made several trips into the Zi Huang desert, and nearly died each time. I hate to admit it, but it seems that desert is impossible to cross." The professor said, sounding more than a little disappointed.

The GAang all looked at each other and Sokka turned to the professor, "Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?" He asked.

"A sky bison, you mean you actually have one!?" He asked, smiling and they nodded and he practically ran out the door after them.

* * *

When they all got outside, they found Appa growling at the men who Kai had noticed earlier, and they rushed over with the Professor leading the way, "Sandbenders, shoo! Away from the bison!" He demanded and Toph could feel Kai's body heat up, practically begging them to start a fight, but they didn't.

They boarded some boat-like objects and creating small tornado's of sand, glided away. This time Kai humphed as they boarded Appa.

"Looking for a fight?" Toph whispered to him, smiling a little.

"Maybe. They tried to spit on me, a burn or two would teach them not to try their luck." He shrugged and Toph laughed a little and they took off into the air, gliding over the desert and starting their search.

As they flew, the professor leaned forwards and started talking to Appa, "Tell me, sky bison, are you the last of your breed?" He asked and Appa just growled in response, "Delightful! I only wish I spoke his tongue! Oh the stories this beast could tell." He said, rubbing Appa's head. Momo went over to him and started "speaking" as well.

"Shush, chatty monkey." The professor said as Aang looked at the picture of the library, "Well it shouldn't be too hard to find a place like this out here." He said.

So, they flew, and they flew. After some time, both Toph and Kai were getting bored and impatient, "Ah, does this place even exist?" Toph demanded.

"Some say it doesn't." The Professor said, smiling.

"Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?" Kai asked incredulously as Toph huffed and leaned on him, using his arm for a pillow as the search continued.

They continued searching for about an hour as they lay strewn about the saddle, looking in various directions. Toph lay on one side with her head lying on her arms when her eyes widened.

"There it is!" She exclaimed, pointing out into the dessert. Everyone ran over and looked to where she was pointing and found nothing but sand for miles. Everyone just glared at her with annoyance.

"That's what it'll sound like when one of you spots it." She said before waving her hand in front of her face, reminding the group that she was blind.

The search continued on for another half-hour and they still found nothing and the group was beginning to feel like they should just give up.

"It shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant, ornate building from the air." Katara said as they looked. Sokka looked out his spyglass and looked in the opposite direction. As he scanned the desert, he came across what looked like a tall, stone tower buried in the sand.

"Hey, down there. What's that?" He asked, pointing to the tower. They turned in that direction and set Appa down before hopping off to get a closer look at it. They examined the tower but some of them were skeptical about it.

"Forget it, it's obvious this isn't what we're looking for." Katara said in disappointment,"The building in this drawing is enormous." She said, showing them the picture.

As they looked at the illustration, they heard sand shifting behind them. Turning and looking, they found a brownish-orange fox with a scroll in its jaws come over a sand dune and run towards the tower.

"What kind of animal is that?" Sokka asked curiously. The fox then ran up to the building and to everyone's amazement, it ran up the side of the tower with ease before entering though a window at the top.

"I think that was one of the knowledge seekers. Oh, we must be close to the library!" Te professor said with excitement. Kai looked up at the tower before glancing at the illustration of the library and then back at the tower again, as if putting something together in his head.

"Hey, Katara, can I see that a minute?" He asked and she handed him the picture. He examined the picture closely, looking between it and the tower. He then put the picture in front of him and found that the tower they were looking at was completely identical to the towers in the picture.

"No, this is the library. Look." He said, showing them the picture and matching it with the tower.

"It's completely buried." Sokka said in utter disappointment.

"The library is buried! My life's ambition is full of sand!" Zei said, falling to his knees before springing up, "Well, time to start excavating." He said, taking out a small shovel and starting to dig.

Toph walked over and pressed her hand to the stone of the tower, "Actually, that won't be necessary, the inside seems to be fully intact, and it's huge!" She said, using her sonar-like abilities.

"Well, that fox thing went in through a window, I say we climb up there and give it a look." Sokka said simply, "Yeah, and I say you all go ahead without me." Toph said, folding her arms and staring lazily at the stone, "You have something against libraries?" Katara asked, placing her hands on her hips and seeming so much like a mother Kai was impressed.

Toph just shrugged, "I've held books before and I got to tell you, they don't exactly do it for me." She said simply and Katara blushed in slight embarrassment.

"Right, sorry." She said as Sokka tied a long length of rope to his boomerang and tossed it up through the window. After making sure the line was secure enough to hold them, they all started climbing up. Kai approached Toph, "Want me to stay out here and keep you company?" He asked.

"Trying to get me alone?" Toph smirked, making him blush a little and she laughed, "It's alright, Hot Foot, I've got Appa to keep me company, you go with the others, I know you're curious, but come back and let me know if they have something you can listen to." She said, smiling. Kai, still red in the face, nodded and began to climb after the others.

Toph stood beside Appa,, who grunted at her, "What's up?" She asked casually, making Kai laugh as he slid through the window. They all very carefully lowered themselves down the rope, going through a large, golden tunnel inside of the tower they had entered from. It soon opened up to a large, fairly well lit green room that stretched out into a space that seemed to go on for miles.

"Oh my, the spirits spared no expense in designing this place. It's absolutely breath taking. Look at those beautiful buttresses." Professor Zei said and Aang and Sokka chuckled, making Katara and Kai roll their eyes at the two as Zei asked, "What's funny?"

"Nothing, we just like architecture." Aang said quickly.

"As do I." Zei said, getting off the rope at the bottom and staring wide-eyed around him. He looked like a kid in a sweet shop, and Kai had to admit it was easy to see why. He himself was fan of books and knowledge. He had read practically every book in the Fire Nation royal library a few times. This though, was more than he had ever imagined, and he was pretty keen to see what he could learn here as well.

 _'Maybe there's something about the golden flames here.'_ He thought as they all got to the bottom of the rope.

When they got off the rope, they looked around to see the amazing expanse of the library. There were marble columns, arches, and dozens if not hundreds of levels of bookcases that stretched as far as the eye could see. Zei then spotted a mosaic piece of a giant, black owl with its wings spread placed above one of the archways.

"My word! The exquisite mosaic handy work of this tile-rendered avian symbol is..." Zei exclaimed before trailing off when he noticed that most of them didn't know what he was talking about.

"Uh... Nice owl." He explained in layman's terms. They heard something coming their way, something large. Acting quickly, the group ran and hid behind some nearby columns.

Coming from one of the archways was a giant, black owl with a white face. It stood nearly three times the size of the group and moved with an almost ghostly way. It walked up to the rope that the group used to descend into the library and inspected it.

The group couldn't help but be scared. Even Kai took in shallow breaths because his heart was beating so quickly. He peeked out from behind the column to look at the owl and see it turn its head almost 360 degrees before it stopped at where they were hiding.

"I know you're back there." He stated in a deep, almost booming voice that, while threatening, had a sort of wisdom to it. They continued to hide for a few more seconds before Professor Zei came out and bowed to the giant owl.

"Hello, I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University!" He said in a hurried and nervous but still polite tone. The owl just looked down at him with an uncaring look.

"You should leave the way you came. Unless you want to become a 'stuffed' head of anthropology." He stated, directing the professor to a wall that had stuffed animal heads hung to it.

Professor Zei couldn't help but rub his neck nervously at the very thought. Seeing that they may need to step in, the group came out of their hiding spots and approached the owl.

"Excuse me, but aren't you the spirit that brought this library to the physical world?" Kai asked.

"Indeed, I am Won-Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things. And you are obviously humans which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my study." He said seriously and Kai noticed, angrily.

"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked.

Won-Shi huffed before speaking, "Humans only bother to learn things to get the edge on other humans, like that Firebender who came to this place a few years ago looking to destroy his enemies. So, who are you trying to destroy?" He asked, leaning down into Sokka's face.

Sokka instantly looked nervous, but smiled, "What? No, no, no, destroying? We aren't into that." He said quickly, waving his hands.

"Then why have you come here?" Won-Shi asked.

"Uh, knowledge for knowledge's sake." Sokka said, and at that moment Kai was convinced that this was going to end very poorly for Sokka, who might even need to be rescued from the spirit, but when the spirit spoke next. He sounded amused, if irritated.

"You know, if you're going to lie to an all knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it. I'm sure the Firebender could teach you some tricks." He said, glancing coldly at Kai, who suddenly felt both frustrated and sorry for what the Firebender, whoever it had been, had done.

"I'm not lying, I'm here with the Avatar, he's the bridge between our worlds, he'll vouch for me." Sokka said, dragging Aang in front of him and elbowing him in the back nervously.

"Uh yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word." Aang said.

"Hmm. Very well. I'll allow you to peruse my vast collection, on one condition: To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge." He said.

Professor Zei stepped up and knelt, holding out a large book, "Please except this tome as a donation to your library." He said respectfully.

"First addition, very nice." He said, waving his wing over it and it vanished, "I have an authentic Waterbending scroll." Katara said, stepping up with it.

"These illustrations are quite stylish." Won-Shi said, taking it as well.

"Oh, I know!" Aang said, plunging a hand into his robe and pulling out a wanted poster of himself, "I suppose that counts." The owl said, shrugging.

"Oh great spirit, check this out... Ta da!" Sokka said, holding out a knot that looked a lot like a butterfly. Won-Shi just stared at it blankly in silence.

"Come on, it's a special knot. That counts as knowledge." Sokka said.

"You aren't very bright, are you?" The owl asked, taking it and then turning to Kai, "Well, Firebender, do you have anything to contribute?" He asked in a tone of doubt.

Kai thought for a moment, "Do you by chance have paper, ink, and brushes?" He asked. The spirit seemed curious and one of its foxes came out of the shadows carrying a large tray with several pieces of paper, ink of various colors, and different sized brushes.

"Thank you." Kai said, taking the tray and setting to work for several minutes after which he stood and smiled, holding out a few pieces of paper one large, the other several small, "This is a map of the Fire Nation's capital city as it is now, along with a key identifying landmarks of importance." He said, holding up the large one which they were all surprised to see looked like a professional grade map.

"This is a history of every Fire Lord up to the current, with details of how and when their reign started and ended as well as historical events that they caused during their time. Please take them, as both a donation, and a way of saying sorry for what that Firebender in the past did, from the prince himself." He said, holding up the stack of smaller pages to the stunned owl and bowing.

Won-Shi looked down at the papers that Kai was presenting him with in silence. The silence lasted so long that Kai feared that he wouldn't accept the offer and he'd end up a trophy on display.

Finally, Won-Shi took the map and timeline from Kai with a wave of his wing before looking to everyone in the group.

"You may browse the library as you see fit. But know that I have my eyes on you." He said before spreading his wings and leaping from the walkway they were on and flying into the depths of the library.

* * *

The group spread out through the library and did their own thing. Aang and Katara were looking through some old books where Aang found an interesting art piece of something called a lion-turtle.

Sokka was going through the map section with Momo and was stuffing maps into his satchel as sneakily as he could.

Professor Zei was loading himself down with as many books as he could, wanting to know as much as he could about what this place held.

Kai was searching through the bookshelves, searching for anything that has a mention of the golden flames but he couldn't find anything about it. All he could find was books of basic knowledge on Fire Nation history. AKA, stuff he's already read about.

He sighed and then gasped as he tried to go deeper into the Fire Nation section, only to find scorch marks and the ashes of bookshelves. The only one intact was the one that held what he had just given to the library.

"You've got to be kidding me! Who would do this just to keep knowledge out of the hands of others?" He muttered, lighting one hand to examine each inch in a little better light and see if anything was salvageable, but after several minute of searching, he found nothing. Sighing in defeat, he turned to go see what else he could learn and found Won Shi Tong staring at him.

"You seem disappointed." He said.

"I am, not in you, just in whatever Firebender did this. It's a disgrace to my whole nation. I'm sorry they ruined any part of your library." Kai said honestly.

"You genuinely care, Firebender?" He asked and Kai nodded, "Yes, knowledge should be available for all, not destroyed like this."

"You are truely one who both values knowledge and respects the spirits. There for, as a reward for that, and for creating something within these walls themselves, I have a gift of sorts for you."

"What do you mean?" Kai asked curiously. Won Shi remained silent and merely turned to the side, revealing a giant, arctic fox standing behind him. The fox was very large, about a couple feet taller than Kai and had a brilliant white coat of fur.

"She is one of my best knowledge seekers, treat her with care." Won Shi said before leaving the room. Kai was still awestruck by the fox's brilliance that he wasn't expecting what happened next.

"You seem rather distracted." It observed.

"Gah!" Kai jumped in surprise, caught completely off guard by the fox speaking to him.

"Y...you can talk?" Kai asked, straightening himself and staring at her.

"Indeed I can, Master." She said, approaching him as he stepped towards her, "So, your like my pet or companion now?" Kai asked, petting her nose and smiling at how soft her fur was.

"Yes, that is so." She said.

"So, I mean, what can you do?" He asked carefully and she smiled, or as close to a smile as a giant arctic fox could, "I can run and swim at speeds that rival most flying animals' speed, I can carry up to four humans. I do require food and water of course, and if need be, I can attack and tear through most things. I can also track things by smell for several miles." She said.

"That's all incredible! Do you have a name?" He asked.

"No, we have never needed names, but you can name me if you wish." She said.

"I will, after I think of a name for you, for now we need to go find my friends and show you to them, can you take me there?" He asked.

"Of course I can." She said, bending down so he could climb on before she headed off to find the others.

* * *

 **-With The Group-**

"Hey Aang, did you know that in a past life you were left handed?" Katara said as they continued looking through a bookshelf.

"I always knew I was special." Aang joked before going back to his book. Sokka continued to stuff various books and scrolls into his bag until he came upon a display case. He looked inside and found that it was a scorched piece of paper with words and a date on it.

"The Darkest Day In Fire Nation History." He read before taking out his knife a wedging it between the glass and case and lifting it open.

"Sokka, what are you doing?" Katara asked.

"There's a date on here, I want to know what happened." He said, slipping the paper into his bag. Just as he and the others were heading out, they were surprised to find Kai coming around the corner riding a fox.

"Hey, what did I miss?" Kai asked nonchalantly. Everyone just stayed quiet as they stared at him and his pet. Finally, Sokka broke the silence.

"Uh, Kai, what is that?" He asked.

"Oh, this is Chie. She's my fox, I own a fox now." He said, petting Chie on the head and it smiled at this.

"Aw, it's a really cute thing." Katara said, walking up and petting it as well.

"Thank you, young human." Chie said, causing everyone to jump.

"... Did it just talk?" Sokka asked stunned.

"Fascinating!" Professor Zei exclaimed, rushing up to the spirit fox and examining her from head to tail.

"Yes, she is." Kai said proudly before looking over to Sokka, "So, what are you all up to?" He asked.

"We're just trying to figure out what happened on this day." Sokka said, handing Kai the paper with the date on it, "I see, well I think I know what happened here, but you need to stop what your doing here, and leave things where they are, and then I'll tell you." Kai said, folding his arms from on Chie.

"What!? Why?" Sokka asked.

"Because, the all knowing, intimidating spirit owl that gave me Chie said that you shouldn't use his knowledge to destroy enemies and Aang swore that we wouldn't. I don't want to push our luck with him, I mean I only heard about what happened at the North Pole, but you all were there to witness it. After all that from the spirits of the Ocean and Moon, do you really want to fight the spirit of knowledge?" Kai asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You know, he makes a really good point there." Katara admitted.

"Yeah, I mean I did swear and all, besides that, the spirits are scary when angered, remember that one from the forest that literally dragged you into the spirit world Sokka?" Aang asked.

"Please don't remind me." Sokka said, shivering at the memory of the Winter Solstice, "Fine, I'll put the stuff back." He huffed before going around a bookshelf to put the books back. After returning, he took the page out of his bag again and passed it to Kai.

"What can you tell us about this?" He asked.

Kai inspected the date on the paper and thought hard, looking back on the pages of the palace's library until he remembered where he had seen thiis date before.

"This was the day of the Great Eclipse. Apparently, Firebenders lose their powers when there's a solar eclipse, thus, The Darkest Day." He explained.

"That kinda makes sense. If a Waterbender gains power from the moon, it would make sense for a Firebender to gain power from the sun." Katara surmised.

"Yeah, that's all well and good. But that only solves half our problems. We need to know when the next eclipse will be, if there will be one." Sokka said.

"I know of a place where you may find out." Chie spoke up.

"Really, where?" Aang asked.

"Follow me." She said before turning around and leading the group through the library.

"Hey, wait, I want to ride the giant fox!" Sokka called, chasing after them. They lightly jogged for about ten minutes and then Chie stopped in front of a large, gold door as a much smaller fox ran in and made the door open for them.

They entered cautiously, and found a room that seemed to contain the sky itself and a dial in the center that showed several days, months and even years. Kai pulled the switch beside it and to their astonishment, the room shifted and showed the day of the eclipse on the paper.

"This room is amazing, a mechanical wonder! It shows the heavens as they move each day. Remarkable." Zei said.

"Yeah, it absolutely is, good work Chie." Kai said, taking two pieces of meat from Sokka's pack and giving one to Chie and the other to the small fox, both of whom ate it gratefully.

"This is perfect, now all we have to do is find what day the eclipse takes place, and then we can get out of here." Sokka said excitedly.

"Easier said than done, this thing can show years in advance, this could take a while." Aang said.

"Well, it's usually spaced out by a few years, and a few months as well give or take, so I'd say that we'd be about due for one later this year, though I wouldn't know when exactly." Kai shrugged.

"Well then we'd better get to work. Aang, help me handle this." Sokka said and Aang nodded as he and Sokka set to turning the dials. Kai grabbed a book from the professor's stack and began to read, leaning against Chie, who was now laying down, watching the humans, though she seemed worried.

"Master, why do the other humans want to know the next eclipse?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, I mean realistically speaking, there isn't a tone that those three plus Toph could do with the information. Whether Aang is Avatar or not, four people can't attack a whole nation, not without an army really. I really am not sure what they want to do with the knowledge." He said, looking up from 'An Unabridged History of the Earth Kingdom Vol 1.' and seeming a little worried.

"I really hope they don't violate the spirit's trust." He added.

Sokka and Aang continued to turn the dial, trying to find the date they need. Finally, the room stopped moving and darkened, showing the moon eclipsing the sun.

"That's the date we need! With this, we finally have a chance against the Fire Nation." Sokka said, copying the date down on a scrap of paper.

Getting up from beside Chie, Kai put his book down and approached Sokka, "Sokka, I don't know what you plan to do with that information. Even with Aang, you guys can't go up against the Fire Nation army alone."

"That's because we're not doing it alone. When we get to Ba Sing Sa, we're going to the Earth King and we're going to get a real army." Sokka said.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you humans." Came a deep, threatening voice from the planetarium's doorway. Turning around slowly, they were met with the intimidating form of Won Shi Tong. He just stood there, glaring at them.

"From the beginning you have intended to misuse this knowledge for evil purposes." He said, stepping into the room and right past Kai and Chie, glaring at the others.

"You don't understand if anyone's evil it's the Fire Nation. You saw what they did to your library. They're destructive and dangerous! We need this information!" Sokka debated.

"You think you're the first person to believe their war was justified? Countless other before you have come here seeking weapons, or weaknesses, or battle strategies, and of all of you, the Firebender you say is so destructive and dangerous, is the only one who has respected my wishes! So, he and his new companion are the only one's who may now leave." He said, waving his wing over a stunned Kai and Chie and to the others surprise, they vanished before either could speak.

"Please you need to understand, we had no choice. Please. We're just desperate to protect the people we love." Aang begged, but the spirit didn't want to hear it.

"And now, I'm going to protect what I love." Won-Shi said, flapping his wings and causing the room to start shaking, "What are you doing?" Aang called out.

"I'm taking my knowledge back! No one will ever abuse it again!" He yelled and they all stood horrified as sand began to flood into the room from all around.

"He's sinking the building, we have to get out of here!" Katara yelled to the others, but the owl spirit had begun to transform. Its neck started stretching outwards and its wings expanding so it now looked more like a dragon/owl hybrid.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, you already know too much!" He said before springing at them.

* * *

 **-With Kai-**

Kai and Chie were briefly enveloped by darkness before coming out in the middle of the desert, far from both the oasis and the library, or so Kai guessed.

"Chie, what just happened?" He asked, turning to her with a worried look.

"My former master has decided to take his knowledge back to the spirit world for your friends not respecting his wishes, and as punishment, he has decided to take them with him. You were allowed to leave because you respected his wishes." She said.

"That's not good, those are my friends, I can't just let them die. I have to try and save them. Chie, can you smell the library?" Kai asked.

"Yes, Master, of course I can." She said, inclining her head and allowing him on again.

"Then let's get moving." He said and she nodded, taking off at top speed.

* * *

 **-With Toph-**

Toph was lying against Appa, taking a nap when the tower to the library began shaking, causing Appa to growl.

"I told you already, I don't want to cuddle." Toph said tiredly before Appa got up and causing her to fall on her back. After she came to her senses, Toph noticed the tower rumbling.

"The library's sinking. The library's sinking!" She yelled in a panic before running up to the tower a digging her fingers into the sandstone. It continued to sink however as the sand beneath Toph's feet gave little in the way of foundation.

Acting quickly, Toph let go of the tower and bent the sand so it was more solid before driving her hands back into the sinking building.

As she struggled to keep the building from sinking farther into the shifting sands, she heard Appa growl and wind blowing loudly. If she were able to see, she would see a large group of Sandbenders sail up on their sand skiffs and surround the sky bison.

"Who's there!" Toph yelled in a strained voice. The Sandbenders got in position around Appa, who growled at them, trying to scare them off. It did little to intimidate the dessert dwellers as they swung sandbags tied to rope around before throwing them over Appa and having them caught on the opposite side.

"Don't make me do this!" Toph warned. She let go of the tower again and blasted waves of sand in the direction she heard the noises coming from. Unfortunately, she failed to hit any of them before going back to the tower.

Appa growled and struggled against his bonds but it was in vain. The Sandbenders restrained Appa entirely and tied him to their skiffs before taking off. Toph let off a couple more sand waves in desperation but they were already out of range.

"I'm so sorry, Appa." She whispered as she held onto the tower.

* * *

 **-With the others-**

Katara and Momo had been separated from the others, and were avoiding Won-Shi. She dived behind a bookcase and hid for a moment as he peered around the corner and sighted Momo's tail. "At least I'll have one new specimen to add to my collection." He said, swooping at them.

Katara dodged and they ran for the bridge they had touched down on when they came. Sighting the rope, she stopped in front of it and turned to face him, readying her stance to fight if she had to.

"Your Waterbending won't due you much good here, I've studied Northern Water Style, Southern Water Style, and even Foggy Swamp Style." He said, towering over her. He was so focused on Katara he didn't see Aang and Sokka glide over him. Aang let Sokka go and Sokka slammed a large book on the owl's head, knocking him out cold.

"That's called Sokka style, learn it!" He said triumphantly as he and Katara began to climb the rope with Aang gliding up beside them and then Sokka saw the professor was not coming with them, he was sitting among several books, "Professor, let's go!" Sokka called out.

"I'm not leaving, I've spent too long trying to find this place. There's not another collection of knowledge like this in the world. I could spend an eternity in here." He said, smiling a little, "Just go!" Katara called up to Sokka, who started moving again just as Won Shi Tong rose screeching and snapped the rope.

Aang swooped back down, each of them managing to grab on as with the knowledge spirit right behind them. He shot up and just managed to slip out the window as the two of them lost their grips on him and fell into the sand. Toph sensed they were out and let go of the library and it sank so fast that the wave knocked Toph backwards, but otherwise they were alright.

"We did it, and we have a date! The Fire Nation's in trouble now!" Sokka said as he and Katara hugged each other.

As the two were celebrating, Aang looked around and noticed something off. "Where's Appa?" He asked Toph, who just sat in the sand and looking down with tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Aang." She said and the weight of what had happened came crashing down on Aang. Appa was gone. The very idea was nearly inconceivable to him. They had been together since he was a kid, he didn't know what to do.

"Aang-" Katara tried to say before Aang cut her off.

"How could you let them take Appa!" He lashed out at Toph, "Why didn't you stop them?!"

"I couldn't, the library was sinking and you guys were still inside and-" Toph was saying until something dawned on her, "Where's Kai?" She asked out of the blue.

Even though her vision was blurry due to the sand, she could still feel everyone's vibrations but she couldn't feel Kai or Professor Zei's. All she could feel was Aang, Katara, Momo, and Sokka.

"Well, he's... We're not really sure honestly." Katara said carefully.

"What do you mean, you don't know where he is? What happened in there!? How did you lose him!?" She demanded and now Aang was the one on the defensive.

"There wasn't anything we could do, the spirit owl waved his wing and made him vanish." Aang said and then realized how odd that sounded.

"Great, so we've lost Kai... again, and Appa, who's going to save us now? With Appa gone, we'll never make it out of here." Sokka said.

Aang, still angry, turned to them, "That's all any of you guys care about is yourselves, you don't care if Appa's okay or not!" He shouted. Katara stepped up to try and calm him down, "Aang, we're all concerned, but we can't afford to be fighting each other right now."

Aang looked into the sky, rage filling his head, "I'm going after Appa!" He said and took off into the air before any of them could stop him. Katara sighed and turned to her three companions, "We had better start walking, we're the only one's who know about the solar eclipse. We need to get that information to the Earth King." She said, leading the way.

"You think if we dug out the giant owl he'd give us a lift?" Sokka asked.

"What about Kai!?" Toph demanded, getting their attention, "Don't worry, I'm sure Kai is fine, he's a smart kid. And besides, he has his giant fox to watch his back." Sokka said.

"Wait, his what?" Toph asked, hurrying after them.

The group had been walking for nearly an hour and the sun was getting to them. Sokka tried shading himself with Momo, who had passed out on his head. While doing so, Toph bumped into him.

"Hey, can't you watch where you're...?" He started before he remembered who he was talking to.

"No." Toph said simply.

"Right, sorry." Sokka said, slightly embarrassed at forgetting.

"Come on, guys, we have to stick together." Katara said.

"If I sweat anymore, I don't think sticking together would be a problem." Sokka said, trying to pull his shirt off of Toph's before she simply pushed him away.

"Katara, can I have some water?" Toph said tiredly.

"Alright, but we have to try and conserve it." She said, bending the water from her pouch into three balls before bending it into their mouths. Sokka swished the water around his mouth a bit before swallowing.

"We're drinking your bending water?" He asked before analyzing the taste and realized something, "Oh, you used this on the swamp guy!" He exclaimed in disgust.

"It does taste swampy." Toph said simply. Even Momo chattered at the taste.

"I'm sorry, this is all we have." Katara said apologetically. Sokka put his hands over his brow to see into the distance and he spotted something.

"Not anymore. Look!" He said, pointing in the direction he was looking. Katara looked at what he was pointing to and saw a dessert cactus. Sokka ran over to the dessert plant and sliced the top off with his knife and started drinking its contents.

"Sokka, you shouldn't just go around and drink strange plants." Katara warned.

"No, don't worry. These plants have water trapped inside, see?" He said, offering the bit of plant to her while Momo drank from the plant as well.

"I don't know." Katara said hesitantly.

"Suit yourself. It's very thirst quenching though." He said before he paused all of a sudden and his pupils became incredibly dilated.

"Drink cactus juice: It'll quench ya. Nothing's quenchier. It's the quenchiest!" He started saying with a mad look in his eye. Katara just looked at him with wide eyes before taking the cactus from him.

"Okay, I think you've had enough." She said, pouring out the contents.

"Who lit Toph on fire?" He asked, staring blankly at Toph. Katara looked up and found Momo flying around in circles before falling to the ground.

"Can I get some of that cactus?" Toph asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Come on, we need to find Aang." Katara said, leading Toph and Sokka by the hand.

"How did we get out here in the middle of the ocean?" Sokka asked, still in his delirious state and Katara merely sighed at this.

* * *

 **-With Kai-**

Kai an Chie had arrived at the the library, or at least where it once stood. They looked at the crater where the tower once was.

"I hope that your friends have made it out, Master." Chie said with concern.

Kai looked around the area and quickly noticed that both Toph and Appa were nowhere to be found. He was sure that Aang and the others made it out because it was unlikely that Toph would be able to fly Appa herself.

"I think they did. Chie, is it possible for you to track their scent?" He asked. Chie put her nose to the air and sniff in various directions before pointing in one direction.

"I can smell you Water Tribe friends in that direction." She said.

"Good girl, Chie." He said and petting her behind her ear, which she loved the feeling of, "Let's go." He ordered and Chie started running in the direction of the others.

As they traveled, Kai couldn't stop thinking about something.

"I'm sorry." He said out of the blue. Chie looked up at him with confusion, "What do you mean, Master?" She asked.

"For what happened to the library. It was basically your home and now you can't even go back." He explained. Chie looked in front of her, deep in thought before turning back to him.

"The library was my home for when I served my old master. But since I am with you now, wherever you go will be my home." She said. Kai couldn't help but smile at her words. he knew he chose correctly when he named her Chie. Wisdom.

"Come on. Let's go, girl." He said and Chie nodded and continued on their path.

* * *

 **-With Aang-**

Aang had been flying for hours. He had his bison call whistle and was constantly blowing on it as he went, "Appa! Appa!" He called out, but there was no sign of his fuzzy friend. He landed looking all around, but there was nothing.

"No." He muttered, becoming angry and sad again, "NO!" He shouted, jumping and slamming his staff on the ground, causing a large mushroom cloud to erupt from where he struck, one that could be seen and the wind felt for miles.

* * *

 **-With The Group-**

As they walked, the group felt a gust of wind blow past them and turning, they all saw the mushroom shaped cloud, "What is that?" Katara asked out loud.

"What? What is what?" Toph asked, still disoriented by the sand. Sokka, whose face was now flushed from the cactus juice, stared in awe, "It's a giant mushroom. Maybe it's friendly!" He said.

"Let's just keep moving, I hope Aang and Kai are okay." Katara said, leading Toph away as Sokka started to wave his arms from side to side, "Friendly mushroom! Mushy giant friend!" Sokka said, starting to bow to it between waves as Katara just sighed and lead him away too, getting more worried.

They walked again, the hours seeming to stretch on, and then just as the sun was low in the sky, staining the sand around them in a dark red color, a cloud drifted over them and Katara looked up in time to see Aang land a few feet behind them, his head down and he stared at the ground sadly.

Katara walked over to him, "I'm sorry Aang. I know it's hard for you right now, but we need to focus on getting out of here." She said, placing her hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off.

"What's the difference? We won't survive without Appa, we all know it." Aang said sadly, "Come on, Aang, we can do this if we work together, right, Toph?" Katara asked, turning to the blind girl.

"As far as I can feel, we're trapped in a giant bowl of sand pudding. I got nothin'." She said, kicking a bit of sand.

"Sokka, any ideas how to find Ba Sing Se?" Katara asked hopefully.

"Maybe we can ask the circle birds?" Sokka said, laying on his back and pointing into the sky at circling birds of pray and she sighed, looking at each of them all out of it, and she huffed, becoming more determined than before, and then they heard approaching fast and large footsteps and turning, wondering what it could be, she was relieved at what she found.

"Kai, Chie!" She said as the others turned to them as well.

"Kai and who?" Toph asked, turning to where she heard the footsteps. Kai rode up and looked at the group before hopping off and walking up to them.

"What are you guys doing out here? Where's Appa?" He asked in confusion. Katara and Aang looked away sadly before Katara turned back to him.

"Sandbenders took him. We've been walking on foot since the library sank." She said. Kai was shocked at this news and then angered, 'Probably those same Sandbenders from the oasis.' He thought.

"What happened to you, Kai?" Toph said, walking up to him.

"Was teleported to the middle of nowhere by a giant owl." He said simply. Toph just looked at him with a blank stare.

"Huh, so they weren't lying." She said simply, "So there actually is a giant fox?" She asked.

"Yeah, she's right here." He said, directing her to Chie and finding Sokka rubbing himself against her with a dumb look on his face.

"What's his problem?" He asked Katara.

"He drank cactus juice and he's been like that since." She explained.

"Ah." He said, nodding his head in understanding before walking up and pushing the drugged Water Tribesman over and onto the sand.

He brought Toph over to Chie, who smiled when Toph's hand touched her fur, "Hello, Earthbender." She said, surprising Toph, who jumped a little, "Oh yeah, she talks." Kai added and laughed a little when Toph punched him in the arm.

"Master speaks very highly of you small one. He says you are a powerful bender." Chie said.

"Well, I don't like to brag, but yeah I'm pretty much the greatest Earthbender of all time." Toph said proudly. Katara smiled, it was nice that Kai had managed to cheer them up at least a little. Aang however was staring at Chie with wide eyes.

"Of course, why didn't I think of it before! Kai, could Chie sniff Appa out!?" Aang asked, rushing over to the Fire Prince, who stopped to think for a moment while Toph continued petting Chie and Katara tried to get Sokka back to sanity.

"Yeah, probably, I mean as long as you have something with enough of Appa's scent she should be able to find him pretty easy. She'd need some rest though, she's been going at top speed for a while so we could catch up and besides that, it's getting dark." Kai said.

Aang sighed in frustration, but nodded, seeing Kai's point. Pushing Chie to exhaustion would only make things worse, "Okay, that's fair." Aang said.

"Good, besides we should stop for the night anyways." Katara said and they all nodded.

"Do you have anymore water?" Toph asked.

"Yeah, but this is the last of it. Everyone can have a little drink." Katara said, bending the water out of her pouch only for Momo to leap through it, sending it crashing to the sand.

"MOMO, NO! YOU'VE KILLED US ALL!" Sokka screamed dramatically.

"No, he hasn't." Katara said, bending the water out of the sand, "Oh right, bending." Sokka said, smiling dazed as he watched her hand the pouch to Toph first.

"I swear, he's somehow more irritating this way." Kai said, sitting down beside Toph, who chuckled a little and let him take a small drink as well, "Well, he is loopy on cactus juice." She said.

"What did the cactus look like?" He asked as he passed the pouch to Katara.

"It was about five feet tall, had flowers and thorns on it, and had smaller cacti growing on its sides." She described. Kai thought for a moment before coming up with an answer.

"He must've drank a diluted form of Rajaijah Juice, AKA madness poison." he explained.

"Oh no, is it serious?" Katara asked worried, looking down at the still delirious Sokka.

"Well, in its concentrated form it could drive someone completely insane, but since he only drank the diluted form, it should clear up by tomorrow, give or take."

"Well that's good to hear." Toph said.

"Either way, we should try to get some sleep before we head out again." Katara said.

"Agreed." Kai said.

As the sun set over the dessert horizon, the GAang drifted off to sleep. Kai laid against Chie as a makeshift pillow. She wasn't bothered by it, in fact, she found it comforting. Toph did the same only with Kai, lying against his chest, feeling his heart beat into her ear.

Subconsciously, his arm came up and wrapped around her and held her there, and she smiled a little wider before she drifted off. Katara was the first to wake a few hours later, yawning a little. It was still dark, but she knew they would have to get moving soon.

She went over to wake the others and couldn't help but smile a little at Chie, Kai, and Toph. It was odd, but in a good way. She woke Sokka first and then went over to Aang, "I'm awake; I couldn't sleep." He said.

"Okay, well we need to get moving, come on." She said, going over and gently shaking Kai and Toph awake, which was hard because they both seemed perfectly content to keep sleeping. Eventually however, they did rise groggily, and then noticing their positions, they blushed a little and stood quickly.

"Okay, so I think we need to move North so Sokka let me see the things you got from the library." Katara said an Sokka immediately went wide eyed, "What, I didn't steal anything! Who told you that!? Wait, it was you! You ratted me out!" Sokka said, shouting and pointing at Momo, making Kai slap his head.

"No, I just know you well enough to know you wouldn't put it back." She said, taking his bag, but before she could do anything else, Aang stepped up, "Actually, Kai and I talked the other night and we were going to see if Chie can sniff out Appa for us." Aang said.

"Oh, well alright, that's a pretty good plan. I'm still going to study these charts, then we can learn to use the stars as a guide so we can travel more at night if it comes to it." She said and the others nodded and Aang walked over to Chie holding out Appa's call whistle. Chie sniffed it and then sniffed at the air.

She turned a few different directions before settling on one, "The scent leads in that direction." Chie said.

"Well, alright then, let's go find Appa!" Aang said, leading the way and the others followed. Before they had made it a few steps, Toph hit something and fell over on her hands. "Ow, my foot! I'm sick of not being able to see clearly, and what idiot buries a boat in the middle of the desert anyway?" She asked irritably.

"A boat?" Kai asked.

"Yeah. Believe me, I kicked it hard enough to feel plenty of vibrations." She said, rubbing her foot. Aang approached and with a powerful gust of wind, blew all the sand off of a sand glider.

"This is just like the ones those Sandbenders use, and I bet it takes us in the same direction." Kai said.

"Aang, you could bend the air current and it'll get us all there faster. We're going to make it!" Katara said and the others all agreed, climbing aboard as Aang made it take off and lead them in the same direction Chie had pointed.

Aang continued to blow air into the sails while Katara looked at the ship's compass and Kai sat next to Chie.

"We still heading in the right direction?" Kai asked her. Chie put her nose to the air and sniffed about for a second.

"Yes, we are. Although your 'Appa' is moving rather quickly." She said.

"Hmm, odd." Kai said, thinking about that detail. Katara looked between the compass and the star charts with confusion.

"This doesn't make sense. This compass isn't pointing north according to these charts." She said, tapping the compass to make sure it was working properly.

"Relax, little lady. I'm sure the Sandbenders that built this thing knew how to get around." Sokka said in a carefree voice while he laid against the ship's deck. Katara looked at the star charts again before looking forward and seeing a large plateau dead ahead.

"This compass seems to be pointing to that large rock up ahead. It must be the magnetic center of the desert." She said.

"A rock?!" Toph exclaimed with excitement, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" She ordered and they continued toward it.

* * *

The group arrived at the plateau as the sun rose in the east. When they reached the top, Toph fell backwards onto the ground and started making a rock angel.

"Ah, solid ground." She said in a relaxed tone, happy to see clearly again.

After she was done enjoying herself, the group found a cave in the rock and decided to investigate. Kai ignited one of his fingers to give a bit more light as they walked in.

The cave was odd to say the least. The walls were oddly shaped and covered with yellow-green slime that Kai honestly didn't want to know what it was.

"Hey, I think my head's starting to clear up." Sokka said before running his hand across the wall and tasting the slime. He immediately spat it out in disgust, "Ugh, it tastes like rotten penguin meat! Oh, I feel woozy." He said and Katara slapped his head.

"You've been hallucinating on cactus juice for the past day and then you just lick something you find stuck to a wall?!" She asked in disbelief.

"I have a natural curiosity." He said in defense.

"Sokka, I swear, sometime I might burn you." Kai said and Sokka swallowed, backing away from him quickly.

"I don't think this is a normal cave, this was carved by something." Toph said, placing her hand on the rock, "Yeah, look at the shape, is Chie sure Appa's scent lead here?" Aang asked.

"She is, when it comes to scents, she knows what she's doing." Kai said.

"Then maybe the Sandbenders are deeper inside?" Katara suggested. Toph spoke up, "I don't know about that, none of them buzzed and there's something buzzing in here. Something... that's coming for us!" She said suddenly. They all nodded and bolted out of the cave as a loud buzzing came towards them.

Just as they made it out, several buzzard wasps came out and surrounded them, "That's a problem." Kai said, shooting fire off and burning one of them as Toph impaled one on a rock that had been foolish enough to land near her. The insects shrieked around them as Toph took a large rock and tossed it into the air and it nearly crushed Sokka.

"Hey Toph, what are you doing?! That almost killed me!" Sokka called out, "Well I can't see where they are in the air." She said.

One flew past Sokka, "I've got this one!" He said, screaming and swinging his machete, "Sokka, there's nothing there!" Kai said, burning the few that flew around him. Sokka glanced around and seeing that he was right, "I guess my head isn't as clear as I thought." He said awkwardly.

"No, really?" Kai asked sarcastically as Momo was snached up by one of the animals, "No, I'm not losing anyone else out here!" Aang said, taking off into the sky after it. He glided under it and blasted Momo out of it's grip. With Momo freed, he sent a blade of wind at the thing cutting it in two before glaring and turning back towards the rock.

The others ran down the path down the plateau while fending off the buzzard wasps. Kai fired off some suppressing shots to keep them at bay and Chie bit at any that got in close. Getting an idea, Kai grabbed Toph by her shoulders and turned her toward the attacking beasts.

"Toph, in front of you, fire now!" He ordered. Toph gathered a cluster of stones and hit a buzzard wasp square in the chest.

"Yeah, she got it! She got it, right?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, now come on!" Kai said, leading them down the mountainside.

They continued fending off the buzzard wasps with Kai shooting off fireballs and Katara aiming Toph's earth blasts.

"On your left!" Katara said and Toph shot another round of stones at the dessert bug/bird hybrids.

* * *

Just as they were closing in on them, the sand beneath them erupted in huge geysers, causing the buzzard wasps to flee back to their hive. When the dust finally settled and they could see clearly once again, the four young heroes found themselves surrounded by three groups of Sandbenders.

They were soon joined by Aang, who landed in front of them as they stared each other down. After over a minute of silence, the leader of the groups, an older man with a brown beard stepped forward.

"What are you doing in our land with a Sandbender Sailor? From the looks of it, you stole it from the Hami Tribe." He accused.

"We found the sailor abandoned in the dessert; We're traveling with the Avatar. Our bison was stolen and we need to get to Ba Sing Se." Katara explained.

"You dare accuse our people of theft while you ride in on a stolen Sand sailor?!" A younger member of the Sandbenders said angrily.

"Quiet, Gashuin! No one accused our people of anything." The leader ordered, calming the young man.

Chie nudged Kai and he leaned over, keeping his eye on Sandbenders, who were eyeing her as well, "What is it?" He asked as the others continued to talk with the Sandbenders, "The young man, he smells like Appa." Chie said.

Kai's eyes narrowed, "You're sure?" He asked, "Of course I am." She said.

"Yeah, and I recognize his voice. He's the one that lead the group that stole Appa." Toph said and those two things were all Aang really needed to hear. He stomped forward, staff pointing at the younger man, "You stole Appa! Where is he!? What did you do to him!?" Aang demanded.

"Their lying! They're the thieves!" The son said. This was not the thing to say. Aang spun on his heel and launched a wave of air forwards that shattered the nearest sand sailor, "You tell me where he is! Now!" Aang demanded, nodding to Kai, who smirked and set another of the sailors ablaze.

"I have been wanting to do that for a while. I was right, sand boats burn faster than water boats." He said.

"What did you do?" Gashuin's father demanded of him, taking into account they now had a vindictive Firebender and an angry Avatar to deal with. Those things alone would have been bad enough.

"I didn't do anything, I swear." He said desperately to his farther.

"You said to put a muzzle on him!" Toph said from beside Kai.

"You muzzled Appa!?" Aang demanded and suddenly his eyes glowed bright white, as did his tattoos and Kai and Toph, who had never been around before for this, felt an overwhelming sense of both power and dread coming from Aang.

'What is this!?' Kai thought to himself and froze because Aang gave a casual seeming wave of his staff and shattered another sailor into small wooden chunks.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't know it belonged to the Avatar!" Gashuin said, frozen by fear and now standing alone as the others had backed away at Aang's absolute rage, and then Aang spoke and his voice sounded like a fusion of many voices, male and female. It was almost demonic, and Kai was glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of Aang's fury now.

"Tell me where Appa is!" Aang demanded, pointing his staff at the young man again.

"I-I traded him to some merchants! He's probably in Ba Sing Se by now, they were going to sell him there." Gashuin said, trembling in horror from Aang's rage and when Aang didn't speak he tried again, "Please, we'll escort you out of the desert, we'll help however we can." He said desperately.

Aang still didn't speak, but a dome of rapidly spinning air encased him and he began to rise off the ground. Sokka grabbed Toph, and shouted "Let's get out of here, run!" And she followed him, even though Kai just stood watching his friend rise and feeling terror as Chie nudged him and forced him on her back, taking him away from the raging Avatar.

Katara stood for a second, tired and sad before she approached Aang and took his arm. He turned to face her, but she didn't back away, she just slowly pulled him down and into a hug and slowly the glow and wind died down and vanished as a tear leaked from Aang's eye and one from Katara's for seeing her friend in so much pain.

* * *

 **A/N: Told yeah it was a long one. We hope you like Chie, we thought it would be a nice character to have and also, Team Avatar gets pets often enough that it fits. We had fun writing this chapter, and we hope you enjoyed reading it. Leave a review if you'd like and we'll see you all next time!**


	9. Traveling the Serpents Pass

**A/N: Hello everyone, welcome to Magma's ninth chapter! We are sorry for the delay, but you know life slowed each of us down at points. Anyway, MaxGentlman 1 and I hope you like this chapter and I would like to thank him for co-authoring and Beta reading it.**

 **Disclaimer: We still don't own Avatar, you clearly know that though if your on this site.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **-A Few Days Later-**

After the Sandbenders had helped them make their way out of the desert, the group have continued on their journey to Ba Sing Se. On their way there, they came across some river land and decided it could make for a good rest area.

Needless to say, it was a much needed rest from their journey through the desert. Aang was swimming around a small pool by a cliff side, Kai was sitting by the shore with Chie, who was drinking large laps of water. Toph was resting her feet in some shallow water, practically turning it to mud, and Sokka was looking over his maps that he stole from the library.

"Waterbending cannonball!" Katara yelled from on top of a cliff before jumping off and creating a huge eruption of water. The water rained down and soaked everyone and everything in the area, including Sokka's maps.

Everyone laughed except for Sokka, who huffed, "Sure, five thousand year old maps from the spirit library, just splash some water on 'em." He said, holding out the now soaking map as Katara got out of the water.

"Sorry." She said, bending the water out of the papers, "You shouldn't even have taken them, Sokka, that's part of the reason that the knowledge spirit nearly killed you all." Kai said, lazily dozing against Chie. Sokka choose to ignore this and went back to his maps as the others gathered around him.

"So, did you figure out what route we're going to take?" Aang asked as Sokka lay the map on the ground for them all to observe, "Okay, so we just got out of the desert, so we must be here, and we need to go to Ba Sing Se, which is here." Sokka said, pointing to each spot on the map, "It seems like the only passage connecting the south to the north is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass." Sokka said, indicating them.

"And you're sure that's the best way to go?" Toph asked casually.

"It's the only way, I mean it's not like we have Appa to fly us there." Sokka said only for Katara to glare at him, "Shush up about Appa, can't you at least try to be sensitive?" She asked, indicating Aang.

"Katara, it's okay I know I was upset about loosing Appa before, but for now I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the solar eclipse." Aang said calmly from where he sat beside them, and although they all knew there was likely more to it than that, now was not the time to discuss it. The wound was still too fresh.

"Oh. Well, okay. I'm glad that you're doing better." Katara said carefully as Sokka stood, rolling up the map they had been looking at, "Then it's off to Ba Sing Se; no more distractions." He said.

Just as he said that, a group of three people rounded the corner, "Hello there, fellow refugees." Said a light-skinned and dark-haired man accompanied by his wife and what looked to be their daughter. Sokka sighed, it appeared that distractions just seemed to find them anyway.

"Hi, so are you guys headed to Ba Sing Se too?" Aang asked the father.

"We sure are, we are trying to get there before my wife Ying has her baby. My name is Than by the way, and this is our daughter, Lin." He said, bowing and patting his wife's stomach.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Katara, and this is my brother Sokka and our friends, Aang, Toph, Chie, and Kai." She said, choosing to leave out the fact that Aang was the Avatar and Kai the Fire Prince for the time being, at least it didn't seem like a good thing to just spout off.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Ying said.

"If we're all headed the same direction, then we could all travel the Serpent's Pass together." Katara said.

"The Serpents Pass?! Only the truly desperate take that deadly route!" Lin said as their eyes all widened at that.

"Deadly route huh? Great pick, Sokka." Toph said sarcastically as she punched his arm, making him stagger. Rubbing his arm, he spoke, "Well we are desperate." He pointed out.

"You all should just come with us to Full Moon Bay. Ferries take refugees across the lake; it's the fastest way to Ba Sing Se." He said, smiling at them.

"Yes and it's hidden, so the Fire Nation can't find it." Ying said.

"Besides we could all get to know each other better." Lin said, eyeing Kai and making Toph's eyes narrow at her pick up in heart rate, and also making Chie chuckle a little while Kai was none the wiser to the new girl as he spoke for the first time since the new arrival's appearance.

"Oh gee, what a tough choice. Peaceful ferry ride or deadly pass?" He said sarcastically, pretending to weigh the options in his hands as the others all shot Sokka a look and he huffed.

* * *

Their journey to Full Moon Bay was a short one, taking just a little over an hour. After traveling through a cave tunnel, they came to a dead-end which was then opened from the other side by two Earthbender guards.

When they looked at their surroundings, Kai saw what looked to be hundreds of refugees cramped together in large groups. There were men, women, children, and infants all together, all looking in terrible condition.

"I can't believe how many people's lives were uprooted by the Fire Nation." He said, a pang of guilt in his heart.

"We're all looking for a better life safe behind the walls of Ba Sing Se." Than said. They said their farewells to the family and made their way over to the ticket and customs desk. Just as they were walking up, they heard yelling from the desk.

"I told you already, no vegetables on the ferry!" The desk worker, an elderly an bitter-looking woman, yelled at an old man who was traveling with a wagon full of cabbages, "One cabbage slug could destroy the entire ecosystem of Ba Sing Se! Security!" She yelled. Before the old man could do anything, the security (Which turned out to be a platypus-bear) smashed his cart and tore through his produce.

"No! My cabbages!" The produce vendor yelled in shock as he was dragged away by real security guards. The group just stared at him with wide eyes as he was dragged away.

"Next!" The old woman yelled. Aang cautiously walked up to the desk.

"Um, five tickets to Ba Sing Se, please." He asked sheepishly.

"Passports?" The old desk worker asked.

"Um, we weren't told we needed passports." Aang said nervously.

"Don't you know who this is? He's the Avatar." Sokka asked firmly, hoping that would give them some sort of leverage.

"Oh please, I see fifty Avatars a day and, by the way, not a very impressive costume." She said condescendingly as she pointed to he right, showing a bunch of people dressed up like Aang, trying to pass themselves off as the Avatar.

"Besides, no animals allowed." She said, indicating Chie and Momo.

"Do I need to call security?" She asked threateningly and the platypus bear destroyed another cabbage. Momo cowered, but Chie growled threateningly at it before Kai patted her head, shaking his own. They didn't need a fight here.

"That won't be necessary." Aang said, backing away.

"I'll handle this." Toph said, stepping up and pulling a small object from her own bag as she spoke, "My name is Toph Bei Fong, and I'll need five tickets." She said, sliding it onto the woman's desk and shocking her as she stared at it, "The golden seal of the flying boar! It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Bei Fong family." She said, bowing.

"Yes, it is your pleasure. Now, as you can see, I am blind and these three imbeciles are my valets, and the one over by the fox is my bodyguard." She said, waving at each of them.

"But, uh, the animals..." The woman started before Toph cut across her, "Are my seeing eye lemur and my bodyguard's pet and attack partner." Toph said simply.

"Well, usually it's only one ticket per passport, but this document is so official, I guess it's worth five tickets." The woman said, stamping five of them, "Thank you very much." Toph said.

"Alright we scammed that lady good!" Sokka said as they walked along only to be pulled aside by a girl in a security uniform with long, brown hair and blue eyes that were currently narrowed at Sokka, "Tickets and passports please." She said, holding out her hand to him expectantly.

"Is there some sort of problem?" Sokka asked, clearly worried and her eyes narrowed a little more, "Yeah, I got a problem with you. I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious, and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar." She said simply and Sokka raised and eye brow at her.

"Do I know you?" He asked.

"You mean you don't remember me? Maybe you remember this." She said before kissing him on the cheek and smiling as comprehension dawned on Sokka, "Suki!" He said smiling as the others turned to face them and Aang and Katara smiled too.

"Who?" Kai asked Toph who shrugged.

After introducing Kai and Toph to the Kiyoshi warrior and vice-versa, the group sat together in a small clearing. They explained to Kai and Toph that Suki was a friend that they had met a few months back.

"You look so different without your make-up. And that outfit..." Katara said before trailing off.

"That crabby old lady at the desk makes all the security guards wear them. And look at you, sleeveless guy, been working out?" She asked Sokka with a small smirk.

"Yeah, well, I'll grab a tree branch and do some chin-ups every now and then. Nothing major." He said, flexing his left bicep.

"Are the other Kiyoshi warriors around?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, after you guys left, we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees and we've been here ever since." She explained as Momo hopped up next to her and chittered, making her giggle and pet him, "Hey, Momo, it's good to see you too."

"So, why are you guys getting tickets for the ferry, wouldn't you just fly across on Appa?" She asked, looking at them, confused at the saddened looks on all their faces. Katara decided to speak out, "Appa is missing. We hope to find him in Ba Sing Se." She said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you doing okay?" Suki asked, looking over to Aang along with the others. Aang stared back at them, a look of hurt briefly crossing his face before he hid it, "I'm doing fine, would everyone stop worrying about me?" He asked somewhat angrily. Before any of them could say anything, Ying's voice rang out.

"Avatar Aang! You have to help us! Someone took all of our belongings; our passports, our tickets, everything's gone." She said, lapsing into crying.

"I'll talk to the lady for you." Aang said. This, as it turned out, was not the best idea because the woman wasn't in a giving mood, "No passports, no tickets!" She said, stamping Aang's head with a denial stamp.

"She's pregnant and all of their stuff was stolen, you have to make an exception!" Aang argued. She didn't agree, "No exceptions! If I just gave away tickets willy-nilly to anyone, there would be no more order, and you know what that means? No more civilization!" She shouted. Kai was beginning to like this woman less and less. Plus, she was taking this a bit too seriously.

"What if we gave them our tickets?" Aang tried.

"No!" She snapped.

"But..." He tried before she called out, "NEXT!" spitting a little as she did so. Aang sighed, heading back over to the group and the family, "Don't worry, you'll get to the city safely. I'll lead you through the Serpent's Pass." He said determined and Kai sighed.

 _'Just one time, can't something be easy?'_ He thought.

* * *

After gathering what supplies that the two groups had, they began to make their way out of the refugee camp.

"I can't believe we gave up our tickets and now we're going through the Serpent's Pass." Sokka complained.

"I can't believe you're still complaining about it." Toph retorted.

As they made their way through the crowds, Lin dropped her bag by accident due to its weight. As she bent down to pick it up, Kai came up and picked it up for her.

"Here, let me get that." He said, throwing the bag over his shoulder with no problem. Lin blushed at Kai's act and Toph again narrowed her eyes at her spike in heart rate.

"Hey, wait, I'm coming too." Came a voice behind them. Turning around, they found Suki running up behind them wearing her armor dress and battle make-up.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sokka asked halfheartedly.

"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come?" She asked.

"No, I do, it's just..." Sokka tried to say.

"It's just what?" Suki asked.

"... Nothing, I'm glad you're coming." Sokka said as Suki walked passed him. Nobody seemed to notice but he had a look of sadness on his face as they left the camp.

It took about a half-hour of walking to get to the entrance of Serpent's Pass. The pass itself was a very thin road with many peaks and troughs with the entrance being a tall sign with the words "Serpent's Pass" written in bold letters.

"This is the Serpent's Pass?" Sokka asked, "I thought it'd be more windy, you know, like a serpent."

"Well it does seem to have a bunch of peaks, maybe the people who named it were talking about a sea serpent or something." Kai suggested.

"Look at this writing." Ying said, directing everyone's attention to some words that were carved into the sign.

"What's it say?" Toph asked.

Katara walked up to the post and read it aloud, "It says 'Abandon Hope'."

"How can we abandon hope? It's all we have." Ying asked sadly, nestling her head into her husband's chest, tears threatening to escape.

"I don't know, the monks used to say that hope is just a distraction, so maybe we do need to abandon it." Aang said, much colder than his usual self, which worried the others.

"What are you talking about?" Katara asked carefully. Aang turned to face them, his voice still low and cold, "Hope isn't going to get us into Ba Sing Se, and it's not gonna find Appa. We need to focus on what we're doing right now, and that's getting across this pass."

"Okay, if you say so." Katara said sadly, looking at the ground.

"You don't believe that, Aang, and you know it." Kai said simply and Aang didn't respond or even appear to have heard him as they headed onto the pass, making Kai growl and walk towards him before Chie stopped him by catching the back of his shirt in her mouth. He turned to face her questioningly as she let go.

"Master, don't do it, the Avatar is going through a period of mourning, of sorts. His behavior is not what it normally would be, he just needs time, and fighting him would just make it worse." She said simply, Kai sighed, "Okay, fine, but I really hope he sees sense soon, because this Aang is starting to get on my nerves." He said, following the path with the others.

"Did your fox just talk?" Lin asked looking at Chie as they walked.

"Yeah, she did. She does that and she's usually right about things." Kai admitted, making Chie smile a little.

"That is so cool, you two are amazing." Lin said, reaching out to Kai before she tripped over a mid-sized rock that no one noticed just seemed to slide up beneath her. Well, no one but Chie, who laughed a little again as Toph smirked to herself as they went.

They walked the path for a while, staring over the large, vast lake that they could now see. As they, walked Suki spoke, "The Fire Nation controls the western lake. Rumor has it, they're working on something big on the other side and they don't want anyone to find out what it is." She said as they all noticed a Fire Nation ship in the water.

As they went, a large rock cracked beneath Than. As he began to fall towards the water, Toph shot out a rock from the cliff and caught him on it and then launched him back up to the ledge, "I'm okay." He said.

However, the rocks that had crumbled beneath Than hit the water and the ship noticed, launching a fireball at them, "They spotted us! Let's go! Let's go!" Sokka yelled.

Aang leaped off the cliff face towards the fireball, created a large gust of wind and bounced it back at the ship so it struck the large personnel tower on it, making it catch fire, though they managed to launch another, hitting the cliff above them and making several rocks fall down and towards Suki. Sokka shoved her out of the way, but before the rocks could crush him, Toph shot out a ledge above him, making the other rocks hit the water.

Sokka helped Suki up, "You have to be more careful! Come on!" Sokka said, pulling her along as the others ran after them, "Thanks for saving my life, Toph. Oh, no problem, Sokka." Toph said sarcastically as she chased after them.

After crippling the ship, they continued onward, running until the ship was out of their sight. The sun began to set over the horizon and they decided to make camp for the night. Than was helping his wife relax by rubbing his feet while the rest set up their bedrolls. Suki was setting hers up by a cliff side before Sokka came along.

"Suki, you shouldn't sleep there. Who knows how stable that cliff is? It could give way at any moment." He said, taking her bedroll and setting it away from the cliff.

"Sokka, I'm fine, you don't need to look after me all the time." Suki said, annoyed of Sokka's overprotective behavior.

"Right, right. You're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself- WAIT!" He yelled, getting in front of her,"Oh, wait, never-mind. Thought I saw a spider."

Suki sighed at that as she sat on her bedroll. Something was wrong, but she wasn't sure what.

* * *

 **-Aang and Katara-**

Aang stood away from the others on one of the cliff's, overlooking the vast water when Katara approached him carefully; "You know, it's alright to miss Appa." She said. Aang didn't respond so she decided to continue.

"What's going on with you? In the desert all you cared about was finding Appa, and now it's like you don't care about him at all." Katara said, stepping up so she stood beside Aang, who let out a great sigh before speaking.

"You saw what I did out there. I was so angry about losing Appa, I couldn't control myself. I hated feeling like that." He said.

"Yeah, but now you're not letting yourself feel anything and that's not a good solution. I know sometimes it hurts more to hope, and it hurts more to care, but you have to promise me that you won't stop caring." Katara said, smiling slightly at him and opening her arms, "Come on, you need a hug." She offered.

Aang turned to face her and bowed, "Thank you for your concern, Katara." He said before turning and walking away from her, leaving her alone to worry about him.

As Aang walked, a voice called out to him, "You know that she's right?" Kai asked as Aang turned to find Kai standing off to his right and looking at Aang, not with the pity that others seemed to have for him since Appa left, but with all the same concern.

"You can't stop hoping, Aang, any of the rest of us maybe, but not you. People look to you for hope, I know that sometimes it's easier to not allow yourself to feel anything, because the emotions hurt too much, but it makes them so much worse when they finally spill over. I won't try to make you feel again, Aang, but just remember, I speak from experience when I say that sometimes hope is all that can get you through the darkest times and refusing to feel it makes the darkest time seem so much worse." Kai said before walking away and leaving Aang to think this time.

Kai made his way back to the campsite and lied down on his bedroll next to Chie, who was already curled up and sleeping. As he was lying down, looking up at the stars, he heard some footsteps coming toward him. Looking in the direction they were coming from, he found Toph standing next to him.

"Hey." She said simply.

"Hey." He replied. They stayed silent for a couple of moments, neither one really knowing what to say. Finally, Kai took the initiative and spoke.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"Well, uh," She was starting awkwardly, "I couldn't really sleep and I was wondering if I could sleep by you. Like I said before, you make a good pillow." She said, blushing.

Kai was a bit surprised by the request and blushed a little himself, "Well, uh,, I guess that's not a problem; Sure." He said.

Toph smiled, happy that he agreed and walked over toward him and lied down next to him before curling up against him, causing him to blush a bit more. He soon relaxed. He could feel Toph's heart beating against his chest and he found the feeling and sound quite calming. He soon fell into a peaceful sleep, his arm unconsciously wrapping around Toph as he did.

* * *

 **-Sokka-**

A little way from them, Sokka sat on what was essentially a rock bench, staring at the moon and thinking. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice Suki walking over until she spoke; "It's a beautiful moon." She said, sitting beside him.

"Yeah, it really is." Sokka said, thinking of Princess Yue as they stared at it.

"Look, I know you're just trying to help, but I can take care of myself." Suki said carefully and Sokka nodded slightly, turning to face her; "Yeah, I know you can." He said honestly.

"Then why are you acting so overprotective?" She asked confused.

He paused for a second before speaking, "It's just... it's so hard to lose someone you care about. Something happened at the North Pole, and I couldn't protect someone. I don't want anything like that to ever happen again." He said, thoughts briefly shifting again to Yue before he pushed them back because it hurt to think about.

"I see, you know I lost someone I care about. He didn't die, he just went away. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart and brave, and funny." She said smiling and Sokka felt a bit of jealousy rise up in him as he stood up; "Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?" He asked, picturing some sort of mountain of muscle in his head.

"No, he's about your height." She said, smirking at him.

"Well is he better looking?" He asked and she outright giggled, "It is you stupid." She said, standing up and facing him.

"Oh..." He said, smiling a little they stood in silence for a moment and then they started leaning towards each other. Sokka caught the moon out of his peripheral vision and backed away, leaving Suki looking confused; "I can't." He sighed.

"I'm sorry." She said, thinking maybe she had come on too strong, but Sokka shook his head, "No, you shouldn't be." He said before walking away to think himself.

* * *

 **-Next Day-**

After morning broke and everyone got their things together, the group continued on their way across Serpent's Pass. They didn't get to far however when they came to a sunken part of the pass that was too deep and too far to simply swim over.

"You know, it's times like this that I wish we had some of those giant lizards that your sister was riding, Kai." Sokka commented.

"Well how are we going to get across now?" Ying asked sadly. Katara grew a determined look on her face before taking point.

"Everyone line up single file behind me." She ordered and everyone did so. Katara then began to bend the water and move forward with the group following close behind her, "Aang, I need help." She said and Aang nodded and gave his staff to Toph as he took the rear and bent the water to form a complete air bubble.

The sight was quite amazing as everyone saw fish and a few other sea creature swim past them. Kai was especially intrigued, the closest he's ever seen fish up until this point had just been the coy pond back home and the illustrations in the palace library.

Momo leaped up onto Kai's shoulder and saw the fish swim by. He tried to pounce at them but just missed them. He attempted to swim after them when he saw something big swim past him. Frightened, Momo swam back into the air pocket and clung to Kai's head.

"Hey, what's wrong, Momo?" He asked the frightened lemur. As if to answer his question, the silhouette of the large creature swam by again before swimming right through the air pocket, causing everyone to panic.

Acting quickly, Toph used her bending and created a platform that broke through the surface of the water. As everyone caught their breath, Kai, Sokka, Aang, and Katara saw a long, spiny fin just above the surface circling around them. The fin then erupted from the water and revealed a huge, green sea serpent that let out an ear-splitting roar.

"I think I know why they call it Serpent's Pass." Sokka said.

"Well, I was partially right." Kai commented, though still incredibly scared.

"Uh, Suki, you know about giant sea monsters, make it go away!" Sokka suggested, turning to the Keyoshi warrior, who raised her eyebrow in indignation, "Just because I live near the unagi doesn't mean I'm an expert!" She said.

Sokka looked around before picking up Momo, "Oh great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering, thank you." He said, bowing as he held up Momo, who screeched.

"Sokka!" Katara said, slightly annoyed before the monster roared again, diving towards them before Aang sent a large gust of air at it knocking it backwards.

"I'll distract it. Katara, get everyone across." Aang said, grabbing his glider from Toph and taking off into the air as the serpent chased after him, roaring as it did so. Katara nodded before bending the water and turning it to ice in large chunks at a time until they had a bridge across and the others started hurrying across it.

Katara, seeing the others were moving well enough, created a block of ice beneath her feet and used her bending to propel herself forwards to help Aang. Just as the serpent went to snatch at Aang, she froze a part of it's body in ice. It roared, breaking free and chasing her instead. Meanwhile, everyone had made it across the bridge but Toph.

"Toph, come on, it's just ice!" Kai called out to her. Toph took one foot off of her island and placed it on the ice, "Yeah, actually I think I'm going to stay here on my little island where I can see." She said before the serpent bounced off it after a particularly hard gust from Aang.

"Never mind I'm coming!" She said, getting on the ice and slowly inching her way across, "You're doing great, just follow the sound of my voice!" Sokka called out, "It's hard to ignore." Toph called back.

Just as she was nearly there, the serpent tore through the ice and Toph fell into the water, "Help! I can't swim!" She called out.

"Toph, hang on, I'm coming!" Kai called out, about to jump into the water to save her only for Suki to jump in and save her first. She swam up behind her and wrapped her arms around her to keep her from drowning.

"Oh, Kai, you saved me." Toph swooned and kissed Suki on the cheek.

"Uh, actually, it's me." Suki said awkwardly and Toph's eyes widened at this realization.

"Oh, uh, right," She stammered, embarrassed, "You can let me drown now." She said.

"Come on." Suki said, securing Toph around her arm and began swimming back to shore.

* * *

Meanwhile, the fight continued between Aang, Katara, and the sea serpent. Aang began to run on the surface of the water and circling the serpent at high speeds, creating a whirlpool around its base.

The serpent began to spin around with the current and it became so strong that the serpent was then flung into the side of the cliff. Knowing that this fight was lost, the serpent simply picked itself back up and swam away as Aang and Katara joined the group back on shore.

"Great job everyone." Kai said as the others nodded and they all set out again, traveling in peace now. With no more interruptions they traveled in a comfortable silence.

After a while, Sokka cried out "There's the wall!" happily as they all looked over to see a grand stone wall rising from the ground and stretching out so far they couldn't see the other end of it from where they stood, "Now it's just smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se." Sokka said smiling.

"Oh, no!" Ying said, clutching her stomach and slumping down, "What's wrong?" Kai asked concerned.

"The baby is coming." She said as her husband and daughter helped her lean against a nearby cliff.

"The baby, what!? Now!? Can't you hold it in or something?!" Sokka asked panicking.

"Sokka, calm down. I helped Gran-Gran deliver lots of babies back home." Katara started calmly only for Sokka to start shouting in a panic, "THIS ISN'T THE SAME AS DELIVERING AN ARCTIC SEAL! THIS IS A REAL...HUMAN...THING!" He said, pointing at the family.

"It's called a baby, Sokka, and I helped to deliver plenty of those, too." Katara said in slight irritation before switching into a commanding voice, "Aang and Kai, get some rags. Sokka, water. Toph, I need you to make me an earth tent, a big one." She said and the others nodded, setting out as Toph made a dome of Earth around the family.

"Suki, come with me." Katara said simply as she headed in, followed by Suki.

After the boys gathered the items she told them to get, Katara was helping the mother give birth.

"Okay. 1... 2... 3... Push!" She ordered and Ying did. At that moment, Sokka walked in and immediately passed out from the sight.

* * *

After about a half-hour later, Toph, Kai, Aang, and Sokka were sitting outside the earth tent when Suki gave them the okay to come in. When they were entering the tent, Toph noticed that Sokka wasn't coming.

"You coming to see the baby or are you gonna faint like a girl again?" She asked with a smirk and Sokka sighed before getting up and joining everyone else.

The air in the tent was humid from the combined body heat and sweat from the seven, now eight, people. Ying laid on the ground with her husband kneeling down beside her, their newborn child resting in her arms, wrapped in a blanket.

Kai looked at the newborn and couldn't help but smile. It was so small and looked so fragile; a complete opposite to everything he's heard, seen, or done in his life.

In that moment, he finally understood. This was what the people wanted to fight for, to protect their homes and families and to enjoy moments like this. At last he knew, that the side he had been raised on was in the wrong and that his own home had to change. And the only way to do that was for his father to lose or be taken out of power.

Aang walked in behind him and saw the baby as well with the others gathered around, "She sounds healthy." Toph said smiling.

"She's beautiful." Katara said.

"It's so... squishy-looking." Sokka said and Kai actually chuckled a little at that, staring at the child, lost in his own thoughts. As Aang stared at them, all so happy and at peace, he felt something he hadn't felt since the loss of Appa: hope and faith that things would be okay in the end, and he smiled at the couple who were talking in hushed tones.

"So what should we name her?" Than asked as Ying stared at their new child, "I want our daughter's name to be unique, I want it to mean something." She said smiling. Aang smiled too, letting a few tears slide from his eyes before wiping them away and speaking.

"You know, I've been going through a really hard time lately, but you've made me hopeful again." He said honestly, feeling like the weight of the world was off his shoulders.

"I know what I want her name to be: Hope." Ying said.

"Yes, that's a perfect name. Hope." Than said, staring at his new born as the others left to give the family some privacy.

When they got outside, Aang pulled Katara to the side to talk to her; "You know, I thought I was trying to be strong, but really I was just running away from my feelings. Seeing this family together, so full of happiness and love, it's reminding me how I feel about Appa. And how I feel about you." He said, smiling gently.

Katara felt a single tear roll down her cheek as they walked towards each other and hugged as the others made their way over to them. They separated and Aang began to speak again, "I promise I'll find Appa as fast as I can. I just really need to do this." He said as Toph gave him back his glider.

"See you in the big city." Sokka said, placing his hand on Aang's shoulder.

"Yeah, say hi to that big fuzzball for me." Toph said, punching his shoulder and making Aang wince a little.

"See you there Aang, and be careful." Kai said, coming out of his own thoughts for a moment and Aang nodded.

"You'll find Appa." Katara said reassuringly, "I know." Aang smiled, unfolding his glider and getting ready to take off with Momo preparing to come with him, "Ready buddy?" He asked and after a chirp from Momo they took off into the sky.

* * *

 **-With Kai-**

As Kai watched Aang and Momo fly off into the sky he felt a hand on his shoulder and looking over to it found Lin looking down at him; "Can I talk to you?" She asked.

"Uh, sure, what do you want?" He asked, following her to over behind the earth tent that Toph had made. In answer, she grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him. For a moment, Kai was caught off guard, but then his head kicked in and he pushed Lin away gently; "What was that for?" He asked confused.

"I just wanted to make my feelings clear and see if there was anything there, on your end I mean." She said, seeming somewhat disappointing, Kai sighed; "Look Lin, you're a beautiful girl don't get me wrong, but I don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry. I'm not great with emotions, but I haven't felt that way about many people." Kai said, thinking briefly of Ty Lee, and then even more so of Toph.

"It's the Earthbender isn't it?" She asked with a soft, but sad smile.

"Yeah, it is." Kai admitted, blushing.

"I sort of figured, after we found you both sleeping together this morning, but I just had to try you know? She's beautiful in her own way though; I suggest you make a move. Because if you don't, you never know when someone else might." She said and with that Lin walked off, leaving Kai with more to think about.

* * *

 **-With Sokka and Suki-**

Suki walked over to Sokka, who was making sure he had everything of his own packed up and ready to go, "Sokka, it's been really great to see you again." She started.

"Whoa, why does it sound like you're saying goodbye?" He asked.

"I came along because I wanted to make sure you got through the Serpent's Pass safely, but now I need to get back to the other Kyoshi Warriors." She said, gesturing towards where they knew the boats they had been going to take would let off soon.

"So, you came along to protect me?" He asked, both touched and confused.

She nodded then spoke carefully, "Listen, I'm really sorry about last night. We were talking and saying things, and I just got carried away and before I knew it, I..." She said before Sokka cut her off with a kiss, surprising her, though she fell into kissing him back.

"You talk too much." He said in almost a whisper before kissing her again as her arms came up to wrap around his neck and pull them closer together, and they kissed deeper.

* * *

 **-With Aang and Momo-**

Aang and Momo glided slowly up to the wall, landing on one of the highest points and staring out at the vast city. Somewhere in there, Aang knew he would find Appa. He turned to face the other direction to see if he could see his friends and his heart sank. He saw a long, black metal-looking machine.

It was a few stories tall and had a massive drill on the front that was slowly turning, and on the top of it was the Fire Nation's insignia. Aang sighed before patting Momo on the the head, "Sorry buddy, Appa's going to have to wait." He said, knowing he was going to need his friends help here and taking off to find them.

* * *

 **A/N: Cliffhanger! Sort of anyway. So we hope you liked it leave a review if you so choose to and we'll see you next time!**


	10. Battle of the Drill

**A/N: Hello all! And welcome to Magma Chapter 10! We were away from this story for a while, and for that we're sorry, but we had other stories both together and seperate that required our attentions as well as our lives outside fanfiction. We really have been busy. So, we hope you like the chapter everyone!**

 **Disclaimer: We don't own Avatar or it's characters Nickelodeon does.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **-Aang and Momo-**

Aang watched for just a moment more as the drill seemed to stretch out a little and continue to move forwards. A tower-like structure rose from it; he knew that had to be where whoever was leading the drill lied. He wanted to act, but he knew he was going to need help.

He was going to need his friends. Pulling out his glider, Aang took off to find them.

* * *

 **-Inside the Drill-**

In the mid-sized command center that topped the drill, several men ran around, making sure things were functioning as they should be. Along the far wall, there was a kind of four seat throne. Azula sat in the center, Ty Lee was off to her left, and Mai to her right. She looked every bit as calm and calculated as she always was, but the other two girls knew better, and it was all due to the empty seat next to Ty Lee, where Kai would have been.

Ever since he had come back to them that day and told them what had happened, Azula had been in somewhat of an odd state. She just seemed both confused and, for the first time either of them could remember, genuinely afraid and remorseful. She hid it well in public, but it was still there, and they knew the only way she would come back was if she got to talk to Kai, and see that he was okay, and as they were not sure where he was, that was proving difficult for now.

"This drill is a feat of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power! Once it tunnels through the wall, our troops will storm their city, and the Earth Kingdom will finally fall and you can claim Ba Sing Sae in the name of your father. Nothing can stop us." War Minister Ching stated proudly, pacing in front of the three teenage girls.

"What about those muscly guys down there?" Ty Lee asked, looking though the periscope to see several Earth Benders, who were taking their place in trenches between the drill and the wall.

"Please, the drill's metal shell is impervious to any Earth Bending attacks." The Minister said calmly, knocking against the periscope and causing Ty Lee to fall back, glaring.

"Oh, I'm sure that it is, War Minister Ching, but just to be safe; Mai, TyLee, take them out!" Azula ordered simply and they both rose; "Finally something to do." Mai said, twirling a knife.

As they left Azula's thoughts returned, as they often did these days, to her little brother; _'I hope you're okay, wherever you are.'_ She thought.

* * *

 **-With the GAang-**

They had barely been separated form Aang for an hour, when he suddenly glided out of the air and landed in front of them and the family they had been traveling with.

"Aang, your, back I thought you were looking for Appa?" Katara asked.

"I was, but something stopped me, something big, come on I'll show you at the wall." He said and they all hurried over to the base of the wall with Aang and Toph creating a rock elevator to the top.

"So, what's so big that Appa had to wait?" Sokka asked.

"That." Aang said pointing pointing out to the drill and the Fire Nation symbol on it.

"Great." Kai sighed.

"We made it to Ba Sing Se, and we're still not safe," Ying said sadly, embracing her new born and her family. The group was saddened by this when they were broken from it by an Earth Kingdom guard.

"Hey, what are all of you doing up here? The wall's off limits to civilians," He said in a stern tone.

Aang stepped forward with a serious look and stance, "I'm the Avatar. Take me to whoever is in charge," He ordered firmly.

The group was taken to a small room built into the wall while Than and his family were taken away to be safe from the fight. The group were then put before a small desk and chair with an older man in military attire sitting behind it.

"It is truly an honor to have you here with us, young Avatar, but your help is not needed," The man spoke with an air of superiority.

"Not needed?" Aang asked in slight disbelief at the general's words.

"Not needed," The general repeated, this time with a slight smug smile, "I assure you that I have the situation completely under control," He said, getting up from his chair and beginning to walk and talk.

"I assure you, the Fire Nation cannot penetrate this city! Many have tried to break through this wall, but none have succeeded." He said proudly.

"What about the Dragon of the West? He got in." Toph said, remembering Kai's story and getting the overly proud man to falter, "Well, technically yes, but he was quickly expunged." He said.

"Yeah, he was, but only because you all, in one magnificent stroke of luck for your side, managed to kill the man's son. If you hadn't, he would have conquered this city long ago." Kai said, stating what he knew to be simple facts. If his cousin Lu Ten hadn't been struck down, Iroh would have toppled the wall long ago. Granted, he was glad now that the city hadn't fallen, he just wished his uncle hadn't had to loose someone so precious in the attempt.

"At any rate, that's why the city is named Ba Sing Se. It's the impenetrable city, they don't call it 'Na Sing Se', that means penetrable city. Besides, how could you possibly know that's what drove him out, you can't have spoken to..." The man started and then he froze, staring at Kai for the first time.

"You! You're Prince Kai of the Fire Nation!" He gasped, pointing.

"Yes, I know what my name and rank is, thanks for the update." He said sarcastically.

"Earthbenders, attack!" He said, pointing to Kai, who suddenly found himself dodging rocks, "Whoa, hey, wait a minute, let me explain!" He exclaimed, weaving through rocks as they were launched from all directions.

Everyone else took cover as Kai dodged and weaved through the boulders being hurled at him. They were coming in such quick succession, that even if he wanted to counter, he couldn't. The reason that he wouldn't is for fear of making the situation worse than it already was.

"Can you stop for just a sec-whoa!" He yelled as another rock barely missed him.

Now getting annoyed at their ignorance of Kai and not letting him explain himself, Toph came out from her cover and stood firm.

"He said 'STOP'!" She yelled before slamming her foot into the ground and stopping the boulders in mid-flight. Kai opened his eyes and found them to have stopped just mere centimeters from hitting him. Toph them used her bending to drop the boulders where they were and glared in the general's general direction.

"Thank you, Toph," He panted before turning to the general and dusting off his clothes, "Listen, I know who I am, I know my rank, and I can understand why you would attack like that, but I'm not on the side of my home nation anymore," He said.

"It's true, he's been traveling with us for months now," Aang put in, stepping up beside him, "I vouch for him. He wants to change his home, but he knows to do that they have to lose," He added and Kai nodded.

"Well then, I suppose if the Avatar himself is vouching for you, and I can respect someone who knows where the winning side in this war is," The General said, waving down his Earthbenders, who all looked relieved that they were not going to have to fight the group. They were glancing at Toph in what Kai could swear was either reverence or fear.

"Good. So if we're all done attacking each other, we still have the drill problem," Toph said.

"Not for long. To stop it, I've sent an elite platoon of Earthbenders called the Terra Team," The General said.

"That's a good group name, very catchy," Sokka commented.

* * *

 **-With Terra Team-**

The Earthbenders in question came up alongside the drill and the four of them used their bending to knock some of the Fire Nation's small tanks out of the way.

"Ready... attack!" The leader ordered, and as one they all launched pillars of earth out of the ground and against the side of the machine. They had barely been in place ten seconds when the drill expanded and caused them to crumble to the ground. They prepared to attack again, only to have to form a rock wall in front of them to block the knives that flew at them.

Mai and Ty Lee were sliding down to the ground on ropes. Ty Lee took a great swing and landed gracefully a few feet away. They launched a rock wall at her, which she leaped over with ease, landing behind one man and striking his chi points and causing him to fall. She turned, still smiling to the others, who all tried to attack her as well. Her smile grew as she dodged and struck at each of them down one-by-one until, with a groan, the last one fell.

* * *

 **-On the Wall-**

General Sung, who had watched it all through a telescope, stood wide-eyed and horrified, "We're doomed!" He screamed, throwing up his arms. Sokka slapped him hard in the face.

"Get a hold of yourself man!" He said.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Sung said, rubbing his cheek.

"So, maybe you'd like The Avatar's help now then?" Toph asked, smirking. General Sung hung his head, facing Aang, "Yes please," He said meekly.

The group gathered around the guard railing of the wall as they watched the drill's slow yet ominous approach.

"Okay, so the question we have to ask is 'How are we going to stop that thing?'," Aang asked as we all turned toward Sokka, who looked back at us in confusion.

"Why are you all looking at me for?" He asked.

"Well you're the idea guy," Aang answered like it was obvious.

"So then it's up to me to come up with all the plans? That's a lot of pressure to put on someone," He complained.

"You're also the complaining guy," Kai said.

"Well that I can live with."

"Well that thing's made of solid metal, I'm guessing iron or steel, so there's no way an Earthbender, even one of Toph's skill can destroy it from its exterior," Kai surmised.

"Then how are we gonna take it out then?" Toph asked.

Suddenly, General Sung came rushing towards the group, sweating profusely.

"Avatar, I need your assistance, quickly!" He said before leading the group to a room-turn-hospital.

They all entered the hospital room to find the Terra Team all down in beds, groaning.

"What happened to all of you? It must have been pretty tough to get through all of you." Aang said as Katara set to work, starting the healing process.

"It was just a girl in pink. She flipped and hit us and then it was like my body wouldn't listen to me." One of them growled out lowly.

Kai let out a sigh, "That's Ty Lee, and that's what she does: hits you in you're chi points. Taking you down from the inside out. If she's there, so are Mai and Azula."

Sokka clapped, smiling, "That's it! That's how we take the drill down, the same way she took down all these big Earthbenders!"

"By hitting its pressure points!" Toph said, understanding what he was getting at, "We take it down from within." Aang said as they all stared down at the giant machine.

"We'll destroy it from the inside," Aang proclaimed seriously.

The group was now stationed in the trenches in front of the wall. The Drill was closer now, and getting closer still. Toph turned to everyone as they huddled together.

"Okay, when I make us cover, you won't be able to see much, so stay close to me." She instructed before jumping out from the trench and stomping on the ground and creating a large cloud of dust and sand, thick enough to obscure anyone's vision.

"Come on, let's move!" She yelled as everyone started running, following Toph's lead.

* * *

 **-Inside the Drill-**

Ty Lee was busy looking out the periscope when she noticed the dust cloud next to the drill.

"Hey, check out that dust cloud. It's so... poofy... poof," She said in a bubbly, absent-minded tone.

"Don't worry, princess, I'm sure it's nothing," Ching assured Azula, though she wasn't too sure herself.

* * *

 **-With the GAang-**

Once Toph had gotten them closer to the drill, she created a hole, "Alright, everyone in the hole!" She said and they all jumped down, finding themselves in the complete dark, "It's so dark in here; I can't see a thing!" Sokka said.

"Oh no, what a tragedy." Toph said sarcastically, "Sorry." Sokka muttered and Kai lit his hand ablaze and they followed Toph. After a few feet, she stopped and brought them up under the drill.

"There!" Sokka said, pointing to a small opening in the bottom. Aang leaped up into it and hung upside down on the bar, helping the others up. Toph, however, hadn't moved at all, "Toph, come on." Kai said.

"No way am I going in that metal monster. I can't bend in there, or see very well. I'll try to stop it from outside."

"Okay be careful, and good luck." Kai said, giving her a small hug before he leaped up into the machine. Toph smiled before creating a large earth pillar and sending it up into the bottom and trying to slow it.

* * *

 **-Inside the Drill-**

Sokka, Aang, Katara, and Kai were walking through the drill; "Okay, I need a plan of this machine; some schematics that show what the inside looks like." Sokka said.

"Where are we going to get that?" Katara asked and Sokka broke one of the pipes, filling the room with steam; "What are you doing? Someones going to find us!" Aang said as they looked at him like he had lost his mind; "That's the idea! I figure in a machine this big they need engineers to run it; and if something breaks..." He trailed off.

"They come to fix it!" Kai said in understanding, and Sokka nodded.

They all faded into the mist and waited. Soon enough, a bulky man wearing some kind of gas mask came in to check on things and Katara struck, turning the steam into ice and froze him in place. Sokka stepped forward and grabbed the plans in his hand; "This'll work. Thanks!" He said as they ran off.

He set out the plans and they all leaned over to look, "Okay, so it looks like the drill is made up of two main structures: There's the inner mechanism where we are now, and the outer shell. The inner part and outer part are connected by these braces; if we cut through them the entire thing will collapse!" He said and they all nodded as they ran off towards the braces.

Traveling through hallways full of solid steel walls and steam pipes, they finally made it to the braces of the drill. Unfortunately, they forgot to account for scale when looking at the plans. The braces were huge, at least four feet thick, made up of solid steel.

"Okay, wow, so it looks a lot thicker in person than it did in the plans. We're going to have to work pretty hard to cut through that," Sokka said.

"What do you mean we? Aang, Kai, and I are going to have to do all the work," Katara said in irritation, folding her arms as they all looked at Sokka skeptically; "Hey, I'm the plans guy, you three are the cut and melt things with water and Firebending guys. Together we're Team Avatar!" He exclaimed, striking a pose.

"So in other words we do all the work, great," Kai sighed heading over to one of the other pillars and starting to melt away at it while Aang and Katara sent water at high speed back and forth, cutting through their own pillar. It took what Kai estimated was roughly twenty minutes before they all paused, breathing hard.

"Come on team, we're almost..." Sokka started before Katara glared at him, her hand going for her water again, "I mean you guys are almost there," He corrected quickly as they all got back to work and eventually both pillars split in two with metallic groans.

"Okay, so at this rate we are never going to do enough damage before the drill reaches the wall," Katara panted. Then from far down the drill they heard a strange kind of bang.

"We must have brought it down! Come on, lets get going!" Sokka said hurriedly. They all ran for the door and just as they made it, The War Minister's voice rang out; "Attention Crew! We have just made contact with the wall! Begin the countdown to victory!" He said being met with cheers over the comms as they all stared at each other in horror.

"We need a new plan," Kai breathed.

As they heard the drill continue through the wall, Sokka tried his hardest to move the brace, but to no avail.

"Come on! Budge you stupid brace!" He yelled before stopping to catch his breath.

"This is bad. Really bad," Katara said in worry.

"We're putting all of our energy into breaking these braces, and yet it's still not enough," Kai said. However, Kai's words ignited an idea in Aang.

"Maybe we don't have to cut all the way through," Aang said in realization.

"What do you mean?" Kai asked.

"Toph's been teaching me to never put all your strength into a single attack. Watch; Sokka, take a fighting stance," Aang asked with Sokka getting up to help with the demonstration.

"You need to be quick and accurate," He explained, "Hit a series of points and break your opponent's stance," He continued, lightly hitting Sokka in a few points, "And when he's reeling back, you deliver the final blow," He finished, chopping him on the head to knock him over.

"His own weight becomes his downfall!" Kai said in understanding, knowing what Aang was getting at.

"So if we just weaken the braces instead of cutting all the way through. Then Aang can go to the top of this thing and deliver the final blow!" Katara said excitedly.

"And Boom, it all comes crashing down!" Sokka finished.

"Everyone behind that wall, the whole world is counting on us." Aang said.

"Well, the whole world minus the Fire Nation that is." Sokka added before glancing at Kai, "Present company excluded." he added hastily as they all set to work cutting about halfway through as many of the braces as possible with the three of them they managed to cover most of the braces.

* * *

 **-In the War Room-**

As Azula, and the others stared out at the drill nearly getting through the wall, a communication tube began to project a mans voice; "War Minister, an engineer has been ambushed and his schematics are gone!" The voice said and before he could respond another one spoke; "War Minster two braces on our starboard side have been cut and melted clean through! It's sabotage sir!"

The Minister froze and then glanced in horror at Azula, who glared at him for only a moment which told him that this would be spoken of again later on before she turned to Mai and Ty Lee; "Let's go, ladies!" She said as they all headed for the door.

Though in her head, Azula was worried one of the beams had been melted through, not cut, and the last time she had heard the Avatar had not used Firebending. She supposed he could have learned since then, but the feeling in her gut told her that Kai may be responsible.

* * *

 **-With Team Avatar-**

As Aang and Katara finished off the brace they were working on, and Kai landed near them Sokka spoke up, "Good work, Team Avatar, now Aang just has to ah!" He cut off his sentence as they were all forced to dodge shots of blue fire. Turning around, they found Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee.

"Wow, Azula, you were right it is the Avatar, and friends." She said, smirking at Sokka who got a somewhat dreamy look on his face and said "Hey" Before Katara pulled him away all of them dodging the girls attacks.

The four of them, plus Momo ran down the hall and came to a split in the hall. Katara and Sokka went left but Aang and Kai stopped; "Guys get out of here! I know what I need to do." Aang told them but Kai stopped him; "You are not doing this alone end of story." He said simply and Aang sighed but nodded.

"Aang wait! You need this more than I do!" Katara said tossing him her water pouch he nodded as they both ran down the hallway. Azula, Mai and Tye Lee stopped; "You two go get his friends, the Avatar and my brother are mine to deal with." She said though she seemed a bit confused to say that.

* * *

 **-Sokka and Katara-**

The two siblings ran down the hall and arrived at a large pipe with a hatch on it that had a sign above; "Slurry pipeline, what does that mean?" Katara asked as Sokka opened the pipe; "It's water and rock mixed together, it means our way out." Sokka said seriously as Mai and Tye Lee came around the corner.

Katara shrugged as they jumped in just barely avoiding the knives as she went; "Ew." Mai said as they stopped by the pipe.

"Come on! You heard Azula we have to follow them!" Tye said seriously and Mai shook her head; "She can shoot all the lightning that she wants at me I am not jumping into that wall goop." She said shuddering. Tye Lee shrugged and jumped in creating a splash as Mai closed the hatch shaking her head and going to find another way out.

* * *

 **-Aang and Kai-**

Aang and Kai had used their combined air and firebending to boost themselves through the drill and to the very top of the structure. As they made it to where the drill was nearing the wall they stopped; "This should be a good spot." Kai said burning an X in the ground to show where he meant only for both of them to have to dodge in coming boulders.

"Beneral Sung! Tell your men to stop shooting rocks down here!" Aang called out.

* * *

 **-On the Wall-**

Soldiers! Whatever you do don't stop shooting rocks down there!" He said fearfully having not heard the Avatar at all.

Meanwhile, Sokka and Katara fell out the back end of the drill as a veritable flood of slurry water poured out the back. After recovering from being washed out, Katara and Sokka saw Ty Lee coming out the drill's tailpipe. However, before she could reach the ground, Katara got to her feet and began to bend the slurry water back into the drill, with Ty Lee along with it.

"Try to block my chi now, you circus freak!" She yelled as she held back the flood of slurry.

"Keep it up, Katara! With the pipe blocked up, it'll explode as soon as Aang delivers the final blow!" Sokka yelled over the noise of the drill's motors.

* * *

 **-With Aang and Kai-**

While dodging the raining rocks, Kai and Aang managed to cut an X into the hull of the drill. After doing so, both were feeling a tad winded.

"What I wouldn't give for Metalbending to be a thing," Aang commented when he was suddenly pushed out of the way.

"Aang! Move!" Kai yelled as he pushed Aang away to avoid a blue fireball.

They both turned to see Azula approaching them; "Momo get out of here! Aang keep working." Kai said and Aang seem hesitant but nodded as Kai stepped up to his sister.

"Kai! Are you okay!? Why are you standing in my way?" She asked while running a critical eye over her little brother; "I'm fine now Azula, better even, but I can't let you hurt Aang, this drill needs to be stopped." Kai said seriously staring at her.

"You can't be serious Kai, this is it for the Fire Nation, with this we can finally win this war." She said seriously.

"I know, and we shouldn't! We should lose, we don't need to win. We aren't helping these peoples lives we are harming them, we need to lose our how needs to change, I won't stand for our home until I believe it stands in the right. Please I don't want to fight you, but I will if you aren't willing to relent I will just hear me out." Kai said.

"No, the Avatar has to be stopped I don't know what they did to you, but if I have to beat sense into you then so be it!" She said taking a ready stance though Kai could hear a tremble in her voice.

"Fine, if we must I didn't want it to come to this." He said as they rushed towards each other.

Aang stood off to the side for a second watching the two fight, but knowing he had his own job to do he went back to work on cracking the drill so that this could all be over with.

As Azula fought her brother, she noticed something that annoyed her and made her a bit jealous. Not that he was keeping pace with her that to be honest was making her proud. What bothered her was how..peaceful he seemed, it was almost like what Iroh was like when he fought. He seemed to be so calm, and at peace with who he was and what he was fighting for something that neither she nor Zuko had achieved.

She growled at thinking all this before renewing her attack even though fighting him was something she was hating doing.

* * *

 **-Sokka and Katara-**

On the other end and below the drill Katara was still pushing the slurry back into the drill and keeping Tye Lee in place as well as Sokka attempted to give her a pep talk; "Good Technique little sister, keep it up and don't forget to brethe." He said and Katara snapped.

"You know I've had just about enough of you telling me what to do all day! You're like a chattering hog monkey!"

"Just bend the slurry woman!" Sokka shouted only for her to casually flick her wrist and knock him into the slurry as Toph approached from where she had been; "You guys need any help?" She asked

"Toph! Help me plug up this drain!" Katara said and Toph nodded stomping the ground and bending the Earth backwards. The combined skill sent the Earth and water mixture along with Tye Lee rocketing backwards into the machine bursting several pipes as it went.

Back with Aang and Kai, Kai fought hard against his older sister. Though it was almost like he wasn't even trying. Every attack she threw at him just seemed to glide past him without him exerting that much effort. As she fired a blast from her fist, Kai flipped up and over her before ducking down and delivering a sweep kick to her legs, knocking her over. She was barely on the ground for a second as she spun on her back, creating a whirlwind of fire, making Kai dodge out of the way.

"How's it coming, Aang?!" Kai yelled as he continued to dodge and counter his sister's attacks.

"Just keep he busy!" He yelled back as Kai was knocked onto his back.

"No problem," He groaned.

He dodged her attack and kiped up to his feet ready for the fight to continue; "If you would just see sense Kai we could capture the Avatar sack the city and be done with all this, victorious together." She said.

"I won't you need to see that what our nation is doing is wrong." He said as gold and blue fire continued to clash. As all three of them continued to dodge the falling rrocks. as the battle escalated in intensity the drill began to break through the wall. Then slurry burst from near Aang and knocked all of them backwards and sending them sliding backwards and down the sides of the machine.

Azula and Kai each managed to stop themselves her using the edges of he shoes and him using fire to bost himself up to a grip. Aang with a little help from Momo managed to get all the way to the top of the machine; "Thanks Momo, I owe you one." He said scratching Momo's ears as he made his way to the now deep in metal X.

"Well now all I need is a..." Aang started as a rock fell and landed beside him; "Actually yeah that is waht I need." He said bending the rock into place and using Earth and Air bending to slice it into a spike in the Center of the X. He took a deep breath then sprinted at the wall using benind and an air scooter to boost himself high as possible before turning around and running down the wall towards the spike.

As he came down hard on the spike Azula shot a blast of fire at him only for it to miss as he slammed into the spike sending her and Kai each flying backwards from the shock wave.

* * *

 **-On the back end of the drill-**

"That's enough! Let go!" Sokka exclaimed as Toph and Katara let go of the slurry as Toph created an earth column that raised them above the water level. As the slurry came pouring out of the drill, Ty Lee came out with it, slamming into the column before falling to the ground, covered in the muddy rock-water.

Kai came falling down and managed an impressive flip at the end and just barely landed on Tophs pillar; "Well that was a fun ride." He said smiling as Toph and the other two laughed as she made more pillars to take them to where they kneww they'd find AAng. He was on the front og the drill covered in slurry with Momo licking it off as he smiled at them; "Hey guys!" He said happily as they all burst again and Toph started to get them up the wall.

Kai stared down, he knew down there somewhere Azula was waiting and thinking; 'Maybe one day she'll listen to me.' He thought.

* * *

 **-Azula's Team-**

A few minutes after team Aang had left Tye Lee sat up spitting slurry out of her mouth, but okay as Azula came sliding down off the drill and landed in the puddle re soaking her friend. Mai opened up the hatch near the back and sighed; "We lost."

"I know, and what's worse they've done something to Kai, he was talking as if he were on their side now. He even fought me! I don't know what they did to him, but I will find out and undo it!" She growled as the other two girls gulped. Azula, was now more than ever on a warpath.

* * *

 **-On top of the wall-**

The GAang stood on top of the wall Aang now completely clean of the slurry, and Chie now sitting beside Kai and Toph as they all looked down at the defeated drill and smiled a little; "Well, this was an interesting day." Kai sighed.

"Yeah, I just want to say go work out there today Team Avatar!" Sokka said and Katara rolled her eyes; "Can you please stop with the 'Team Avatar' stuff? No matter how much you say it." She said.

"Okay well how about...The Boomerang squad!? See, it's good because it has Aang in it! BoomerAang!" He said smiling as he pulled out the weapon in question.

"I kinda like that one." Aang admitted.

"Let's discuss this more on the way into the city." Katara said as she, Aang, Chi, and Sokka headed towards the tram to take them into the city Sokka threw another out: "The Aang Gang?"

"Sokka." Katara sighed wearily.

Kai chuckled before noticing he was alone with Toph and becoming nervous; "So today was...fun." He said after a pause and she chuckled taking note of the pick up in his heart rate.

"Yeah it was, maybe this place won't be so bad." She said leaning into his side Kai gathered his courage thinking of what that Lin girl had said the other day; _"I suggest you make a move. Because if you don't you never know when someone else might."_

 _'Well, either this'll work or she'll kill me.'_ He thought looking down at her before speaking; "Hey Toph?"

"Yeah?" She asked tilting her head up to look at him. Before he could loose his nerve Kai bent his head down slightly and kissed her. For a second she was surprised and he thought he might've done too far and then her arms came up and around his neck pulling him closer to her as she hummed in satisfaction.

"I've been waiting for you to get brave enough for that. You know your mine now right?" She said when they separated and he smiled; "Just so long as your mine too." He said and she smiled taking his hand and turning to find Aang and Sokka open mouthed and Chie and Katara smiling; "About time." Katara said.

"Hey we're both stubborn." Toph shrugged closing the other two boys mouths for them and walking on.

* * *

 **A/N: And there we are that wraps up the chapter! Also, they are finally together officially! So, yeah we are happy with this chapter and hope you all liked it too! Leave a review, follow or favorite if you'd like and we'll see you next chapter!**


	11. Lies and Secrets in Ba Sing Se

**A/N: Hello, everyone and welcome to CHpater 11 of Magma! Thank you to my co-author and friend MaxGentlman 1! I don't have anything else to say this time work was really long last night!**

 **Disclaimer: Nick owns Avatar and all recognizable characters not us.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 11

The GAang sat together in the cart being pushed by Earthbenders. It was taking them from the outer wall where they had been fighting to the populated inner wall.

"I can't believe that we finally made it to Ba Sing Si in one piece!" Katara said happily .

"Hey don't jinx it! We could still be attacked by some giant exploding Fire Nation spoon! Or Find out the cities been submerged in an ocean of killer shrimp!" Sokka said seriously as they all looked at him with raised eyebrows; "Have you been hitting the cactus juice again?" Toph asked seriously from her position leaning against Kai's side.

"What, I'm just saying...weird things happen to us!" Sokka shrugged as Katara looked over to Aang who seemed a bit down than when they had defeated the drill.

"Don't worry Aang, we'll find Appa." She said.

"It's just such a big city." Aang sighed.

"He's a giant Bison! Where could they possibly hide him?" Sokka asked seriously as they entered the city and saw a vast landscape that stretched outwards as far as they could see from their window.

"Okay, so might be a bit more challenging than we previously thought." Kai said now dressed in his Earth Kingdom outfit to better blend in.

After a few minutes, the earth train came to a stop and the GAang disembarked onto the platform. From there they could see an almost 360 degree view of the inner city.

"Back in the big city... Great," Toph sighed with Momo resting on her shoulder as they walked over to a railing that overlooked the city.

"What are you talking about? It's beautiful here," Sokka said.

"It's just a bunch of walls and rules. Trust her, you'll get over the initial excitement in about three days. Four tops." Kai said.

"You both sound like you already are?" Katara asked.

"We are." They said at the same time seriously looking at her; "Keep in mind until you guys came along we had very fenced in rule filled lives. Once you get away from that, going back is...well boring." Kai added as Toph nodded.

Aang stood off to the side and blew the whistle that would usually get Appa to come to him, but nothing happened. He closed his hand around it and looked out to the city; "I'm comin for you buddy." He said as Katara stood beside him; "He's here, I can feel it." Aang said seriously.

Then from behind them someone cleared their throat and turning they all found a woman standing there stair at them all with the creepiest smile any of them had ever seen; "Hello! My name is Joo Dee, and I have been granted the honor of showing the Avatar around our city. And you all must be Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Prince Kai. A pleasure to meet you. Shall we get started?" She asked the grin never leaving her face.

Sokka smiled; "Yes, we have information about the Fire Nation Army that we need to deliver to the Earth king immediately." He said clutching his bag to himself.

Joo Dee however just smiled again; "Great! Let's begin our tour and then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it." SHe said before walking towards the carraiges and leaving Sokka in a confused rage as he quickly caught up.

"So maybe you missed what I said, we need to talk to the king about the war. It's important!" Sokka said.

"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here." She said simply her smile still firmly in place as she walked off again

"Well, that's creepy." Kai sighed as they followed the others to a large carriage so Chi could fit in.

Soon the cart took off and the group were taken through what seemed to be the poorer part of the city.

"This is the lower ring," Joo Dee said, her creepy smile still plastered across her face.

"What are those walls for?" Katara asked their tour guide.

"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls," She explained, "There are the outer walls that provide protection from the outside world, and then there are the inner walls that help maintain order. This is where all the new arrivals live, as well as all of our craftsmen and artisans. It's really quite quaint."

At those words, Katara looked out the side window and saw a couple of rough individuals, one of which was armed with a scimitar.

"You may want to watch your step though," Joo Dee tacked on, her smile faltering for a moment as she said that.

"Why do they have all these poor people blocked off in this one part of the city?" Katara asked.

"Probably to keep them away from the people that are worth stealing from." Kai said from where he, Toph and Chi were leaning against each other as had become their usual way while resting.

"This is why I never came here. I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live." Aang sighed staring out the window as they went onwards coming into a much nicer looking area of the city.

"This is the middle ring of Ba Sing Se, home to the financial district, shops and restaurants and the university." Joo Dee said and Sokka perked up turning to her; "Yeah! We met a professor from the university! He took us to an ancient underground library where we discovered information about the war, that is absolutely crucial for the king to hear!" He said leaning into the woman who didn't stop smiling once.

"Isn't history fascinating? Look here's one of the oldest buildings in the middle ring, the town hall." She said pointing out her window before leading the way out of the carriage as it stopped.

"Is that woman deaf? She only seems to hear every other word I say!" He sighed.

"It's called being handled Sokka." Kai sighed as He and Toph rose to follow Joo Dee; "Get used to it, and learn to do it, because it happens a lot in places like this." She added as she and Kai went out as well.

They were lead around and shown a lot of the mid ring before boarding the carriage again and head out, they were brought to another ring of the city. This one had many giant homes, with lawns of lush green grass that seemed to stretch on for miles. path ways through the grass lead to homes and here and there, they could see ponds and streams.

"This is the upper ring, home to our most important citizens. Your house is not too far from here." She said as they were taken past another large wall they saw something. Standing in the doorway, their posture brased and ready stood three men in black robes with the Earth kingdom symbol on the front, as well as gold and green cuffs on their sleeves. On their heads the wore large black and green sun hats and they glared at them all.

Kai glared right back as Katara asked; "What's behind that wall?"

"And who are the mean looking guys in robes?" Sokka added.

"Inside is the royal palace, those men are agents of the Dai Li, the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se. They are the guardians of all our traditions." She said as Kai's eyes narrowed, something about the way those men carried themselves felt, wrong somehow.

"Can we see the King now?" Aang asked breaking Kai from his pondering as Chi, having noticed his tension liked his face in a worried sort of way, he smiled at her; "I'll tell you how I feel later okay?" He asked and she nodded as Joo Dee answered Aang.

"Oh no, no One doesn't just pop in on the Earth king." She said smiling even wider as they all slumped a little in their seats; "I get the feeling this place is going to give me so many headaches." Toph said clearly annoyed as she went back to leaning on Kai, who just nodded as well.

After a little while longer of riding in the carriage, they stopped and got out in front of what appeared to be a lavish, one story house made of white marble and roof tiles made from terracotta clay.

"Here we are. Your new home," Joo Dee said, her smile still present. As she said that, a man ran up to her carrying a scroll in his hands. Passing it to Joo Dee, he left as she opened it.

"More good news it seems. Your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed. You should be able to see him in about a month. Much more quickly than usual."

"A month!?" Sokka exclaimed as the other member of the group had shocked faces.

"Six to eight weeks, actually," Joo Dee corrected, her smile never faltering.

They all made their way into the house which was admittedly very nice. The large living room had honey colored walls and two large doors on each wall that lead off to other rooms and halls o the house. The large living room was decorated lavishly, Katara and Toph sat on a soft green and gold rug in the center.

"Isn't this wonderful!? I think you're really going to like it here." Jood Dee said happily her smile still yet to falter again in this entire trip which wasn't helping the feeling of unease that Kai and Toph both were feeling.

"I think we'd all like it a bit more, if we didn't have to stay so long. Isn't there anyway we can see the Earth King sooner?" Sokka asked and Joo Dee turned her attention directly to him and spoke in her ever chipper tone; "The Earth king is very busy running the finest city in the world, and will see you when time permits." She said leaving Sokka moping and irritated.

"If we're gonna be here for a month, we should spend our time looking for Appa." Aang said in a serious tone that left no room for argument on the matter, not that any of them were going to.

"I'll be happy to escort you anywhere that you would like to go." Joo Dee said bowing to him, this however proved to be a little too much for Toph who spoke in a bored yet irritated voice.

"We don't need a babysitter." She growled glowering at the ever smiling woman as she stood up and walked towards the door as Joo Dee stepped in front of her.

"Oh, I won't get in the way, and to leave you alone would make me a bad host, where shall we start?" Joo Dee asked as Kai rolled his eyes.

* * *

The group started their search in a small pet shop full of a menagerie of animals, mostly flying ones. Momo was getting a snack from one of the feeding trays that were full of seeds when he was scared off by a calicrow (A cross between a calico cat and a crow) and ran back to Kai's shoulder, who, along with the others, were talking with the shop owner about Appa.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't heard anything about any flying bison. I didn't even know there were any left," The shop owner said.

"If anyone wanted to sell a stolen animal without anyone knowing, where would they do it?" Aang thought out loud.

"Where's the black market?! Who runs it? Come on, we know you know!" Sokka said, trying to intimidate the shop owner.

The shop owner seemed to stammer for a second as he looked straight ahead. Kai inconspicuously followed his gaze and found that he was looking at Joo Dee, who shook her head at the shop owner.

"That would be illegal," The shop owner seemed to stammer out before looking around his shop with a frown. "You all will have to leave. Your lemur is harassing my sparrowkeets." He said and they all looked over to see Momo getting pecked at for taking their food.

* * *

They left the shop and made their way over to the university where they started speaking with a student one boy about Sokka's age. They sat in the courtyard and asked questions.

"Hmm, I've never seen any sandbenders or nomads around here. You should probably ask Professor Zei, he teaches the class on desert cultures." The young man said pushing his glasses up his nose as Sokka raised an eyebrow; "Right, and which of your professors could we ask about the war with the Fire Nation?" He asked.

The boy seemed stunned; "Uhh..." He said glancing at Joo Dee, who Kai saw shake her head slightly to either side his eyes narrowed what was going on here? Sokka didn't catch her in time but the boy spoke again; "I don't know I'm not a political science student I have to get to class." He said hastily before rushing off with his books and scrolls. He dropped them scrambled to pick them up and rushed out again.

A while later they all stood in front of their new home in the city with Joo Dee in the carriage as she spoke to them; Well, I'm sorry no one has seen your Bison, why don't you all get some rest? Someone will come with dinner later." She said as she pulled away

As she did, the group spotted a house right across the street with what looked to be an old man looking through the window of his front door. Seeing that he was spotted he slid out of sight. Curious, the group walked across the street and knocked on the green door. Not a second later, the old man slid the door open and gave a small smile to the teenagers.

"You're the Avatar. I heard you were in town. My name's Pong," He said pleasantly.

"Nice to meet you, Pong," Aang said with the same level of pleasantness.

"So, Pong, what's going on in this city? Why's everybody here so scared to talk about the war?" Sokka asked firmly, making the old man nervous.

"War? Scared? What do you mean?" He asked hastily.

"I can feel you shaking," Toph said bluntly.

"Look," Pong said in a low voice that was almost a whisper, "I'm just a minor government official. I've waited a whole three years to get this house. I don't want to get into trouble."

"Trouble?" Kai asked.

"Get in trouble with who?" Katara added.

"Shhhh! Listen, you can't mention the war here. And, whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li," Pong said quickly before shutting his door and leaving the group with more questions than answers.

"So, is it just me or did that solve absolutely nothing?" Kai asked rolling his eyes as Toph nodded in agreement as they all made their way back to the house. They slept surprisingly well that night and the next day they all rose fairly early.

* * *

Katara yawned and stretched, as she headed to the front porch and took a newsletter from their mail slot, she read the front and her face split into a wide grin as she ran back into the house; "I've got it! I know how we're going to see the Earth King!" She said holding up the paper in triumph at the others who wer all lounging.

"How pretell are we going to do that?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, remember? One does not just pop in on the Earth king." She said immitating Joo Dee's voice badly from where she was laying with her head on Kai's lap.

"Simple, the kind is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear!" Katara said and they all raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, you mean Platypus-Bear?" Aang asked smiling.

"No, it just says bear."

"Certainly you mean his bet skunk bear?" Sokka asked from where he lay on the floor.

"Or his Armadillo-Bear?" Toph added.

"Gopher-Bear?" Kai asked confused.

"No, just bear..." Katara said.

"This place, is weird." Toph said honestly.

"None of that is the point, the point is that the palace will be packed, we can sneak in with the crowd!" Katara said excitedly, but Kai shook his head negative; "Having lived in a palace most of my life I can tell you that won't work." He sighed.

"What? Why not?" Katara asked.

"Well, apart form the many guards who would be examining nearly everyone, no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd would spot you a mile away. You have no manners." Toph said seriously, between eating bits of an apple as Kai nodded petting Chi behind the ears.

"Excuse, me? I have no manners? You're not exactly lady fancy fingers." Katara pointed out to the blind bending master.

"Yeah, but I learned proper society behavior, and choose to leave it behind, same with Kai. You all never learned anything, and frankly it's a little too late." Toph said cassually scratching her stomach and tossing the apple core aside.

"Ah, but you two learned it! It you can teach us!" Sokka said.

"Yeah, I'm learning all four elements, how hard could manners be?" Aang asked as he got up from his seat and wrappped a curtain around him like it was some kind of fancy robe.

"Good evening, Mr. Sokka Water Tribe, Miss Katara Water Tribe, Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty. Your Momoness," He said in some ridiculous stereotypical fancy voice before Sokka did the exact same with another of the curtains.

"Avatar Aang. How you do, go on," He said in an even more ridiculous voice before they started getting into what seemed to be a bowing contest before they accidentally headbutted each other and fell to the ground.

"Katara, will probably be able to pull it off, but you two would be lucky to pass as bus boys." Toph said seriously as Kai cracked up laughing a little at the other two boys antics.

"But I feel so fancy." Sokka said smiling a little; "Yeah, we know you do." Kai chuckled patting his shoulder before turning to the two girls.

"If the three of us are going to go in together we're going to need a believable cover. Something that's not too conspicuous, and very easy to believe." He said thinking hard, as Toph smirked; "Oh come on, that ones easy a spoiled rich kid and his two beautiful dates." Toph shrugged.

"Wait, hold on why can't I play the spoiled rich kid with the two beautiful dates I mean not to brag, but look at me." Sokka said flexing his muscles and going through several posses before Kai pushed him over.

"Believe us we have seen you Sokka, but to be fair I have more practice at this and besides that,do you really want to have to act like your dating your sister? Particularly when you'll have to act the part convincingly to deceive the party goers?" He asked and Katara and Sokka shuddered at the possibility looking disgusted at the thought and making the others laugh.

"Exactly, I on the other hand can do that very easily." He said smiling at Katara and Toph, Katara smirked and said teasingly; "Are you saying you have a crush on me too Fire Prince?" She asked

Toph stopped laughing and looked to Katara and said dryly; Don't flatter yourself Sugar Queen."

"And whats that supposed to mean!?" Katara demanded and Toph shrugged taking Katara's arm and leading her out the door to go and get clothes they would need for the night; "Nothing, just when he has me why would he want you?" Toph said.

"Hey are you saying he couldn't like me at all!?" Katara said glaring; "Basically, in that way yeah." She shrugged as an argument broke out between them as it usually did.

"Why are they arguing over who I like? I'm dating Toph?" Kai said turning to the other two who both shrugged as he sighed and followed the girls out and into the city.

Hours later Aang and Sokka sat playing a game of Elements; "Earth!" Aang said as Sokka put up Fire. Sokka groaned and Aang smirked before flicking him in the forehead and knocking him over as the door to the room the girls had been using opened.

In the doorway stood Toph and Katara both dressed to impress, Katara in a light green robe with Dark Green edges and a cloud pattern on her robe and a headdress on her head. Her hair was done into a neat bun on her head a pink flower off to the side. Toph mean while wore a white robe with the same dark gree trim to it. Her hair was done into two tight braids that fell down over her shoulders. SHe too wore a similar headdress, but with a large red flower in the center instead of a bun. Both had makeup on that complimented their looks, and giggled from behind fans.

"Wow, you look beautiful." Aang said blushing before Sokka reached over and flicked him in the side of the head. Katara made to speak but Toph covered her mouth; "Don't talk to the commoners Katara, rule one of society." She said simply before calling out: "Kai, you ready?"

"Yeah I think I'm good." Kai said coming out of his room; He was dressed in form fitting black pant, with black and gold boots on his feet. He had a long sleeved light Gold shirt. Over the top of that he wore black and gold toggle coat with bollowing sleeves that had a gold and green earth kingdom lining along the edge of the sleeves and shoulders. His hair he had tied into a long braid.

"So, I look alright?" He asked those who could see.

"Yeah, you clean up pretty well." Katara said actually blushing a little.

"You best stop thinking what your thinking there, Katara," Toph said sternly after feeling Katara's heart-rate pick up a bit, making Katara cough and try to calm herself.

"Riiight," Kai drawled, "You guys follow behind us a few minutes after we leave. We'll try to sneak you two in once we get inside," He told Aang and Sokka before turning to the girls, "Well ladies, let's crash a party," He said as the girls hooked their arms around his and they left the house.

* * *

 **-Royal Palace-**

The palace seemed to be packed as all the well-to-do citizens of Ba Sing Se were lined up in front of the entrance to the palace, waiting to get inside and rub elbows with the other aristocrats of the city. It soon came to be Kai and the girls' turn as the guard before them spoke.

"Invitation please."

"I think this will cover it," Toph said as she held out the symbol of the Bei Fong family.

"No entry without an invitation," The guard said sternly.

"Listen, my family's already inside waiting for me and my dates. Do you honestly want me to tell them who kept them waiting for their son?" Kai said seriously, acting the part of his rich boy persona.

"Step out of line please, sir," The guard said, not taking Kai's threat.

"You'll be hearing from my father about this," Kai called as he and the girls stepped out of line.

"Well now what?" Katara asked.

Kai was silent for a moment before he spotted an older gentleman that was dressed in a long-sleeved light gold shirt with a black and gold toggle coat with billowing sleeves that had a gold and green Earth Kingdom lining along the edge of the sleeves and shoulders with his hair done in a long braid.

"I have an idea. Follow my lead," Kai whispered to them as he and the girls walked up to the older man.

"Excuse me, sir, can you help me? I was supposed to me my family inside the party with my dates but I forgot to bring my invite. Between the two of us, I'd lose my own head if it weren't attached to my body. So I was wondering if you could help us get inside so I could find my parents."

"I am honored, please come with me." He said and lead them past the guard who bowed to them all. They all stuck their tongues out at him as they walked past smiling.

They came into a large open room with green marble pillars rising up along the walls on either side. The room seemed to glow with a soft, relaxing light. In the center of the room was a large table filled with foods and seated at the head was a bear, who was devouring all the food in sight. \

"Hey, he's eating all the good stuff!" One man said the other man glared.

"Quiet! you don't know what I had to do to get seats this close to the bear!" The other man said.

"It's beautiful isn't it? By the way my name is Long Feng, I'm a cultural minster to the king." He said smiling pleasently.

"I'm Hwamei, and this is Shu and Dung." Katara said introducing each of them and Toph pulling a small bit of her hair in response to being called Dung.

"Now then, where is your family young man? I 'd love to meet them." Long Feng said pleasantly.

"You know, I can't see them yet, but I'm sure they'll turn up. Thank you sir for all of your help." Kai said as the three of them walked off still linked by the arms they hadn't made it very far at all when Long Feng appeared in front of them all, to their surprise; "Don't worry, as your escort it would be dishonorable to abandon young ones, without finding your family first we'll keep looking." He said leading the way into the party further.

* * *

 **-Outside the Party-**

Meanwhile, outside, Aang, Momo, and Sokka were hiding behind a statue in front of the palace, waiting for Kai and the girls to get them inside the party.

"Where are they?" Aang asked.

"Look, I came up with a backup plan. We'll dress Momo up as a ghost, who'll then fly around the guards, creating a distraction. Then, we'll blast a hole in the wall-"

"Or we can go in with these guys," Aang suggested, pointing at the caterers who were delivering food to the party,"Toph said we might pass as busboys."

"Okay, fine. But keep that Momo ghost plan for later. I think it's a winner," Sokka said, making Aang role his eyes.

They snuck inside the party, dressed in black uniforms, Momo was under Sokka's hat his tails surving as a ponytail Sokka carried a tray of shrip puffs and Aang a water jug; "So where are the others?" Aang asked seriously.

Sokka shrugged; "Forget about them! Just concentrate on finding the king." He said batting Momo's tail out of his face; "How? I don't even know what he looks like." Aang pointed out.

"Come one it'll be easy, you know royal, flowing robe, fancy jewlery..." Sokka trailed off as they both looked around and took notice of all the people in the room.

"Sokka, that could be any guy here, except the bear." Aang pointed out sighing before Tophs voice came from the side of him; "Another shrimp puff please?" She asked in a haughty accent.

"You found us!" Aang said as Sokka lowered the tray between them and she took a puff; "I'd know your daity little footsteps anywhere Twinkle Toes." She said as the other two showed up beside her.

"Thanks for letting us in by the way." He said sarcastically.

"Sorry, but the guy who ascorted us in won't let us out of his sight." Katara said.

"What guy?" Sokka asked and turning around Kai and Katara noticed that Long Feng had gone like he had never been there at all.

When they turned back around, they found Joo Dee walking up to them hastily.

"What are you doing here? You have to leave immediately or we'll all be in terrible trouble!" She said in a small panic, her usual smile for once not on her face as she tried to push Sokka but he stopped her with the tray he was carrying.

"Not until we see the king," Sokka said firmly.

"You don't understand. You must go!" Joo Dee insisted before forcefully pushing Sokka and causing him to bump into Aang, which in turn caused him to spill the water from the jug he was carrying onto one of the female party goers.

The woman in quest gasped and then turned to them looking ready to yell and Aang ran forwards apologetically; "Sorry, no don't shout." He said before blasting her dry with a large gust of wind which messed up her hair and makeup and took off the hat hiding Aangs arrow. She gasped adn then smiled.

"Oh my! The Avatar! I had no idea, oh I didn't know the Avatar would be here." She siad getting everyones attention and basically stopping the party dead. The nervous smile slid off Joo Dee's face to be replaced with a look of horror at Aangs discovery, which Kai took careful notice of. Sure she had every right to be nervous about this, but why was she so scared?

"You keep their attention while I find the King." Sokka said and Aang nodded; "Hey everyone watch this!" He said leeping into the air and landing gracefully on the table. He then used water bending to take all the various drinks out of the glasses and cups around him and bent them into a arge multicolored dome around himself.

"That, is actually rather impressive." Kai said smirking as watched his friend for a moment, before taking note that on the edges of the room Dai Li agents were appearing.

'Well this should be interesting.' He thought

Just then, a royal procession entered the room that was followed closely by Earth Kingdom guards. Seeing this, Sokka whispered over to Aang, who was busy entertaining the bear with colored bubbled.

"Aang, it's the Earth King," He said.

Hearing this, Aang stopped playing with the bear and formed an air scooter and raced toward the end of the table, the guests moving the dishes out of the way as he came.

"Greeting, your majesty!" Aang called out.

Several guards stepped forwards to wait at the end of the table as the King was carried away again. Sokka made a move running behind the guests, he got a little closer when suddenly two Dai Li agents came out and grabbed him and took him away. Kai saw and made to move, but noticed two small rock hands reach up and grab Toph. Then two more grab Katara.

He sighed, resisting would make more of a scene and for now that was not a good idea, he took a deep breath and rather than wait to be grabbed calmly walked into the shadows and held out his hands for the Dai Li to take him too. Meanwhile Aang stopped at where the Earth King had been only for Long Feng to step out from behind the guards.

"Avatar, it is a great honor to meet you. I am Long Feng, Grand Secretaryet of Ba Sing Se and head of the Dai Li. I'd like to talk to you. Your friends will be waiting for us in the library." He said leading the way with Aang following close behind.

* * *

 **-Library-**

The library was a very dimly lit room. Almost completely covered in shadows if it weren't for the green fire that burned behind Long Feng as he took a seat in a small chair as Aang and the group stood before him. Momo was the last to be brought in as he made a sound and scampered up to Kai and climbed onto his shoulder. With that being done, the Dai Li agents left the room and shut the door behind them, leaving the group with Long Feng.

"Why won't you let us see the Earth King?!" Sokka asked in a demanding voice, "We have information that could help defeat the Fire Nation."

"The Earth King has no time for political Squabbles and the day-to-day minutia of military activities." Long Feng said calmly.

"This could be the most important thing he's ever heard." Aang said seriously.

Long Feng nodded, but spoke in his same calm and commanding tone of voice; "What's most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties relate to issuing decree's on such matters. It's my job to oversee the rest of the cities resources, including the military." He said smiling malevolently.

"So, then the king is just a figure head." Katara said.

"He's your puppet!" Toph said outraged.

"Oh No No. His majesty is a god, an icon to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly changes of an endless war." Long Feng said.

"But we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation virtually defenseless and we have inside information on them from our friend! You could lead an invasion force and..." Sokka tried but Long Feng stood up and interupted him.

"Enough! I don't want to hear your rediculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within in the walls. Constant news of an escalating war would throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a state of panic. Our economy would be ruined, out peaceful way of life, our traditions would dissapear. In silencing conflict the city remains a peaceful orderly Utopia the last one on Earth." Long Feng said smiling.

"You can't keep the truth from all these people! They need to know!" Katara said.

"I'll tell them! I'll make sure everyone knows!" Aang said stomping forwards and pointing at the older man.

"Up until now, you've been treated as out honored guests, but from now on you will be watched every moment by Dai Li agents. If you mention the war to anyone you will be expelled from the city, or imprisoned. I understand you've been looking for your Bison, it would be quiet a shame if you were not able to complete your quest." Long Feng said and Aangs face became one of worry then anger.

"It would be yes, too bad that's a fairly empty threat." Kai said speaking for the first time since entering the room and handing Momo to Aang as he stepped up his posture just as calm as Long Feng.

"You think it can't be done Prince Kai? Just because your the Fire Nations prince doesn't make you immune here."

"I know it can be done, but I also know that it won't be. Simply put, you want your people to feel safe, orderly and happy do you really think they will if the Dai Li openly attack the Avatar, and if they all know the Fire Prince is or was not only inside the walls but so close to the Earth King...Doesn't sound very safe to me." Kai said lighting one of his hands on fire and staring across to the older man.

"You would do well to remember Long Feng that fire is something you don't play with. I don't want to cause a panic or a disruption, I simply want a compromise. All I ask for is simple immunity from most rules of the city while we search for my friends missing flying Bison. In exchange, we won't say a word about the war to anyone, but each other in the privacy of our own home here." Kai said.

"What makes you think I would give you any of that!?" He demanded.

Kai's face broke into a grin so much like his sisters that even his friends felt a chill go up their spines as he spoke in a cold calculating voice; "I KNOW, you will do this for us mostly because as of right now I hold more of the cards than you want me to, and I can cause chaos like you've never known, physically with fire, and riots, and of course politically with the right words, gossip and misinformation spread in the right places." Kai said still smiling as he folded his arms and continued.

"After all word travels to everyone if phrased the right way, and even slightly believable if the Earth King were to hear even the faintest whispers, of being unable to trust his Grand Secretariat, or that his city is in danger, he might start investigating himself...can't have a puppet that see's it's own strings can you?"

Long Feng glared at the young man who continued to smile right back at the man in question. After a moment Long Feng exhaled through his nose; "Very well, these terms are agreeable for now but we will speak again Prince Kai, and of course you will still be watched."

"I would expect nothing less, we'll see ourselves out." Kai said turning to the door but Long Feng cleared his throat; "Actually I must insist that Joo Dee show you out, for appearances sake of course." He said as the door opened and a woman walked in, dressed in the same uniform as Joo Dee, but she was not she was a few years younger, her hair was shorter, but she still wore the same smile as she spoke:

"Come with me please." She said.

"What happened to Joo Dee?" Katara asked as they all stared stunned.

"I'm Joo Dee, and I'll be your host as long as you're in our wonderful city." The woman said leading them out as Kai and Long Feng exchaged a final glare before he followed the new woman out.

"Kai, why would you agree that we wouldn't speak about the war to others?" Sokka demanded once they were back home and Kai sighed undoing his braid.

"Because until we find Appa, this is a game we have to play by the rules, in order for things to work out in our favor we need to hope to define the rules as much as possible. Once we find Appa, then we can do things our usual way." Kai said.

"Finding Appa could take a long time and the eclipse is getting closer!" Sokka pointed out.

"I know that Sokka, which is why we need to find Appa sooner rather than later. For now though we all need to get some sleep." Kai said and the others nodded knowing that many long days were ahead of them.

* * *

 **A/N: So that ends chapter 11! We hope you liked it! Leave a review, fav, or follow if you want and we'll see you next time!**


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